


Demons & Dragons (and Mistakes)

by orphan_account, SoraShiunin



Series: Succubus!AU [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Conspiracy, Demons, Demons Are Assholes, Dragons, M/M, Magic School, Multi, Succubi & Incubi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-04 06:40:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4128543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoraShiunin/pseuds/SoraShiunin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>White!Mage-in-training Yugo attempts to summon a dragon familiar, but somehow winds up with Succubus!Sora.  Neither of them are happy. </p><p>Eventual toyboxshipping, past/future collisionshipping, mentions of darkrebelshipping.  Basically a huge, flipping mess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Yugo Has No Sense Of Direction

* * *

 Chapter I: In Which Yugo Has No Sense Of Direction

* * *

 

 

Yugo scowled, his face a mask of concentration as he carefully re-lined the spell circle once again.  It was the fifth failure that evening and he still had no damn clue what he was doing wrong. He drew in a deep breath and held it, making sure his hands didn’t shake so he wouldn’t end up with a pathetically wobbly line again.  He had no idea what he had been thinking when he signed up to be a mage.  Brushing his blond bangs impatiently out of his eyes, he finally etched in the last line and sighed in relief when the rune glowed faintly.

Yugo stood back and rolled up the sleeves on his stupid robes, reaching for his ritual dagger and made a careful cut across his palm, only wincing the slightest bit as his blood beaded along the edge of the blade and he let the red drops splash onto the lines.  The circle immediately lit up with a violent red light and Yugo began to chant as he siphoned his magic into it.

A flash of brightly burning light suddenly filled the room. It seemed he had finally uttered the right words to appease the arcane forces that he was so desperate to make a deal with. Like a strike of silent lightning, the white flash faded as quickly as it had arrived, leaving behind a thick, purple smoke that flooded the room and billowed in circles all around him.

The magical runes drawn in the ground were humming with a fiery glow that slowly flickered out. The runes he'd so painstakingly etched along the lines of the circle had faded away along with the flash of light. As the runes had spelled out each specific detail in the binding contract that Yugo had just signed with his blood.

A figure was left standing in the center of the circle. Its silhouette in the cloud of smoke looked truly demonic. A set of horns curved around its head. Wings stretched out with a long sharp tail at its side.

But now that the smoke was starting to fade, the hellish beast he expected to see was looking a lot less intimidating. What was left standing there really didn't seem much like an all-powerful monster. All of its demonic features were mounted to its short boyishly small frame. It was much littler than Yugo and it peered up at him with a pale face and wide eyes that seemed to sparkle like they were made of precious emeralds.

The demon-boy's hair was a kind of blue that was brighter than a clear sky. It was tied all up in a ponytail and wrapped in a bow. The color of which matched the rest of its outfit. Or lack thereof. As the only thing he was wearing was a collar and a pair of tight shorts that hugged its curves. They teasingly hide a set of stockings held up with cute garters. Nothing about it was intimidating, and it had not been for the tail on its backside and horns curling around its head, it wouldn't have even looked monstrous. If anything the little demon was...cute!?

" _You're_ the one who summoned me?" It asked, sounding almost as if it was offended _._

For a long moment, Yugo could only stare at the tiny horned creature, absolutely gob smacked and looking like he had been run over by a behemoth.  Or several herds of behemoths.  He reached up to rub at his exhausted eyes, and then peeked back at the scene, half hoping that it was just his imagination, and that he would be once again staring at an empty circle and be forced to start again.  At least that way, it meant that he could _actually_ try again _._

But when he looked, the tiny creature only glared back at him impatiently, waiting for him to answer.  Yugo was suddenly hit with the urge to sink to the floor and cry into his hands.  He had put everything he had into perfecting this spell; the Familiar Binding ceremony was a one-shot sort of deal.  By forcefully contracting with a Guardian Force, he would be offering up his own life force to sustain it and in return, was bound to serve him in until he died.

But it looked so delicate and fragile and not at all like the powerful, vicious familiar had he desperately wanted.  It… It looked like a little girl for Hecate’s sake!!   How the hell was he supposed to go up against demons and hell beasts with this… this _kid in a Hallow’s Eve costume_?   Yugo almost had to blink back tears at the thought of his one chance at proving himself a semi-capable mage just went up in smoke.

 

“… You’re not a dragon,” Yugo said almost accusingly, his voice laced with a resentful disappointment.  

"A Dragon!?" gasped the little demon who stood there, pouting, with its hands on its hips.

Could this mortal really have been the right blend of magically gifted and painfully stupid to have summoned up a demon instead of a dragon? "Don't be silly, I'm no dumb, dirty, _Dragon_." He honestly sounded offended. "Clearly," it said in a showing display while tracing its hand down its bare chest, showing off the kind of flawless curves that no dragon could ever have.

"My name is Sora, and I am your _succubus_. A demon of insurmountable powers! Not some lousy little dragon." Sora sighed at the very thought. "But shouldn't you know all this? You are the one who made the contract..."

“A… succubus?” Yugo repeated dumbly as he stared at the creature with wide blue eyes, as if he was slowly re-evaluating him again.   

That was when Yugo started to fret... because he was drawing a complete and utter **blank**.  

 

What the _hell_ was a succubus?  

 

He desperately wracked his brain for an answer but came up with nothing. Maybe he shouldn’t have skipped so many lectures.  The boy abruptly spun on his heel and marched back over to his desk, leaving the creature to stare at his back in indignity.

Frantically, Yugo seized his spell book and started flipping through it, oblivious to the creature's increasing ire.  When he finally landed on a dog-eared page with the words “Familiar Bonding” emblazoned over a runic circle, he stared at it intently.  Then, Yugo groaned and gave into the urge to cover his face with his hands.  

 

He had drawn the _fucking_ pentacle in _reverse_.

“Damnit, I really messed up,” he bemoaned.  “I wanted a _Guardian,_ not a _…_ Whatever you are. Uh, sorry.”  He peeked out from his fingers.  

Even though the tiny wings on the succubus's back didn't look like they could carry his full weight, somehow they kept him floating effortlessly. Bewildered by his Master's strange reaction the little demon-boy flew over to Yugo with a look of confusion on his face. Sora came right up behind him, reading the boy's remedial spellbook from over his shoulder.

But hearing his new Master confess to ignorantly signing a demonic contract by _mistake_ made the demon freeze up. His wings tensed and dropped him gracefully to his feet. "You can't be serious!" Sora snapped.

The little demon-boy shoved his way in front of Yugo just so he could glare up into his face as he hissed, "What kind of clueless mortal does it take to _accidentally_ summon up a demon like me!? Well unfortunately for you, your stupidity does not void our contract. It is sealed in your blood, and only when your heart stops beating with that blood will this bound be broken." Sora let out the most depressed sounding sigh with the realization that he was destined to serve this idiot for the rest of his life. Sora hoped for it to be short. "So then, my Master, I better be exactly _what you wante_ d."

Yugo could have cried from frustration.  This was _so_ far from what he wanted that it was ridiculous. He had spent months researching and perfecting his spell, pulling all nighters for days on end for a chance to contract with the most powerful Guardian Force that he could find.

But instead of the almighty Synchro dragon, all he got was some kid. A kid that was claiming to be a _demon_ of all things. And wasn't demon-summoning considered black magic?!  He could really get into trouble for this.  It was fine to summon a lower class demon to take care of minor things like looking for lost objects, but actually binding one to you magically?!  That was a different story. A familiar shared everything with you; their wisdom, their skills, and most importantly, their _magic_.  Yugo's shoulders slumped even further. How exactly was he supposed to explain this to the Headmaster...?

Yugo took a deep gulp of air and screamed into his hands, drawing a look of alarm from the succubus at the sign of his new master's apparent mental instability.  He ignored that for now.  The young mage-in-training had probably made the most impressive blunder in the history of the world - one that was utterly irreversible. He could feel it etched into his blood, feel the shackles of their covenant singing in his veins. It was almost enough to make him want to cry again; he really was an _idiot_. An idiot of epic proportions!!

Yugo pulled his hands away from his face to glare resentfully at the source of all his misery.  But when his ice blue eyes landed on that small, forlorn figure he stopped short, feeling something like shame wrenching his gut.  If it was this awful for him, how much worse was it for the little creature? He hadn't asked to be forcefully dragged from wherever he had been and practically enslaved to a mortal; one that didn't even want him in the first place.  Yugo felt himself stir in sympathy; as an orphan himself, he knew how awful it was to feel unwanted and he let out a long, drawn out sigh.  He needed to man up and take responsibility for his fuck up.

Yugo reached up and unbuttoned his outer robe and shrugged of the garment, leaving him in a thin, sleeveless white tunic that was cinched at the waist and he advanced on the small creature with strong, purposeful strides.  Beneath the shapeless mage robes, the hapless summoner was all long slender limbs and pale skin with surprisingly toned muscles for someone who should have by all means been a 'squishy mage'.

 

The little demon watched him approach, wetting its lips in anticipation, his eager eyes glistened pridefully. Had his Master really been so quick to accept that the succubus was exactly what he truly wanted!? Well, Sora was so flattered that he almost blushed. He praised himself for seducing yet another mortal. Not that stealing a heart was much a challenge for a succubus Sora, with his enchanting charisma and demonically perfect looks.

Bright emerald eyes flickered over the tight curves of his Master's slender body. Yugo may have been incomprehensibly stupid, but with the way he was standing over Sora right now, the little succubus thought he was irresistibly sexy...

But all Yugo did was drape his cloak over its bare shoulders. The demon-boy's wings depressed down to fold under the fabric as he was warmly wrapped in an over-sized robe. The confusing gesture left Sora absolutely speechless. What did Sora do wrong? Why was his Master not pleased with his current form? The little Demon wondered how that could be possible. A succubus like him was never summoned by name, but by the inner desires of their conjurer. So why then did this contract holder want him covered, instead of on display ( _or being used_ ) as he expected to be? Sora didn't understand.

Somehow not noticing the flabbergasted expression on the little demon's face, Yugo spoke sheepishly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to summon you. But since it looks like we'll be stuck together for a while, we should probably try to get along. I'm Yugo. It's nice to meet you... Uh." Yugo frowned as he tried to remember what the little succubus had said when it introduced itself... But he hadn't exactly been paying that much attention since his life had been flipped upside down. He hazarded a guess. "... Dora?"

"SORA!" shrieked the succubus who hit an ear piercing tone at his peak. "I told you my name is SORA! And nothing about this is _NICE!_ In all of the nine circles of hell I have never heard of anything so STUPID!"

How could Sora have any respect for a Master too clueless to draw a star facing the right direction!? Even now Yugo had a dumb expression plastered on his face. Sora hated it and hated him! It didn’t matter how sexy he was. It didn’t make up for this kind of stupidity. The demon-boy let out a whimper as he asked himself what he did to deserve this kind of humiliation. Sora doubted a Demon of his reputation would ever live down being _accidentally_ bound to some amateur, when great and powerful Warlocks have struggled to cast this spell.

After a long drawn out sigh Sora looked back up into his Master's face, with a bitter grin spread across his own. "If you don't want to be _stuck with me_ then I would be happy to spare us the misery and just tear your heart out right now." It must have been so unsettling to see the cute little boy smile through such a cold violent threat. "See, then our nonsense contract will be broken, and we'll both be free of your embarrassing mistake."

At ( ~~Dora)~~ Sora's vicious tirade, a put-upon scowl stretched across Yugo's face and his cheeks flamed at having his mistake rubbed in his face.  Well, in this case, it was more like having the little demon hold him down and club him over the head with it, repeatedly.  He already said he was sorry!  He knew he messed up but Sora didn't have to go as far as calling him stupid (it was a bit of a sore spot...) He might not be good at academics, but still...!

When the demon threatened to kill him, Yugo clenched his teeth hard enough to hear them creak and reined in the urge to descend into a shouting match with his new familiar.  It wasn't the poor kid's fault that Yugo dragged him up from hell.  He had a right to be angry. Even if he was an absolute _asshole_ about it!

Yugo counted backwards from ten, but aborted halfway through to start over from thirty _. It just wasn't fair!_ Not only had he lost his only chance to bond with a dragon, he now had to put up with a weak-looking kid with an attitude problem!   Do demons even grow? Would he still be stuck looking after a little kid thirty years from now (if he even made it that far.)

" _Look_ ," he tried again, trying to sound reasonable and failing miserably, his hair-trigger temper rising to match the succubus's. "I don't like this anymore than you do, okay?!" The air around them crackled as Yugo's magic thrummed with agitation underneath his skin.   Then, one of the ceramic jars that had been stacked haphazardly on his work area abruptly shattered, making the both of them jump as it scattered mountain ash all over the ground.  The choker around Yugo's neck grew hot in warning and the boy tensed, visibly sucking in a pained breath as he started to take deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Shit," Yugo said empathically, running a tense hand through his sweat-dampened bangs and making a little face when he realized how grimy he had gotten. "Sorry. My control isn't all that great." He gave Sora a small, self-deprecating smile. "Anyway, I can't let you kill me yet, there's still a lot of stuff I need to do. But I'm not gonna force you to stay with me, so maybe I can find a way to get you back home instead?"

Did this mortal really believe that he could simply _return_ his soul-bound Demon?! Sora scowled sourly at such an absurd concept. His demonic superiors were not in the kind of business that offered refunds.

The succubus was offended that his Master would even consider it. He crossed his arms and huffed. The only way his Master was going to send him back to hell, was if Sora dragged him down there first. Only one thing that stopped Sora from following through on that threat and that was constant fear of going back to hell and finding out his next contract holder would somehow be worse.

Yugo had already proven to be inexperienced and incompetent. So far he seemed harmless...if not then a little unstable. But at least he was hot! It was an interesting combination that seemed to inspired his Demon to come up with all kinds of fun ways he could take advantage of the situation. Sora noted that since his Master was painfully stupid, he must just be naturally gifted. It's the only thing that could explain how a mortal this pitiful could cast such a powerful spell _by mistake_. So his young Master should have plenty of delicious energy for the gluttonous little succubus to feed off.

Manipulating beautiful mortals, like Yugo, was exactly the kind of fun this demon lived for. So instead of snapping back at his Master like his instinct wanted him to do, Sora feigned a few tears. They made his widened eyes sparkle with a false sense of defeat, "You really don't want me?" he whimpered and sniffled dramatically, "...b-but Master... I have no home."

At the sight of the little demon tearing up, Yugo looked like he had been clubbed over the head again, his blue eyes taking on an almost hunted look.  The succubus's adorable face was twisted with anguish as he hastily wiped at his tears and the mage-in-training felt like he was the scum of the earth for making what looked like a small, sweet-looking child cry. Yugo was at a complete loss, his head spinning in confusion at Sora's dizzyingly abrupt mood swings. For a moment, all Yugo could do was to wring his hands uncertainly; he had rarely ever had to deal with crying children. With his bad-temper and tendency to destroy things when he was angry, people tended to avoid him like the plague.  In the wake of his remembered loneliness, Yugo felt increasingly worse about how his baffling mistake had ripped the succubus from his home. He needed to make it up to Sora somehow.

"H-Hey..." He said, with something akin to panic coloring his voice but the demon only turned away and cried harder, his little shoulders trembling. The naive, trusting boy never could have imagined he was dealing with a master manipulator and that Sora was barely holding back peels of sadistic _laughter_ at the dumbfounded look on his face.

With a lack of a better option, Yugo crouched down next to the demon and gingerly wrapped his arms around his small, slender form, half-expecting him to flip out and claw his eyes out or something. God, he was tiny. Did they never feed him, wherever he was from? He was also very soft and warm and nice to hold and his sky-blue hair was smoother than silk, which he discovered as he absently patted his head, a gesture he copied from one of the matrons from his orphanage.  It was almost like holding a giant teddy bear with a self-generating heat source.

"Don't cry...!" Yugo exclaimed, sounding almost on the verge of tears himself at being unexpectedly saddled with the responsibility of taking care of another living creature. Just the idea of it was frightening. "You can stay with me as long as you want if you don't have anywhere else to go!"

"R-really? Ah-Are you s-sure!?" Sputtered the Succubus in between sniffing. He threw his arms around Yugo and hid his face along with all his secret sinister intentions.  "...But you said I was a mistake..." Sora sobbed from the comfort being snuggled into his chest. With the feeling of Yugo's gentle petting being one that Sora selfishly tried to draw out for as long as possible with a fake fit of tears.

Sora squeezed tight and forced himself even closer into Yugo's chest. Listening to the sound of his delicate mortal heart beating was a reminder of just how easy it was for a manipulative demon like Sora to break it.

The succubus looked up at him with tear stained cheeks and wide sparkling eyes. "I have nothing else but you, Master. To know that you don't really want me... it HURTS!" There was something so fulfilling about tugging on a mortal's heart strings. The other boy looked so upset by all these tears he believed to be the cause of. When in actuality Sora could cry on command. And really was just putting on a show so he could watch his stupid master squirm.

Yugo definitely wasn't tearing up as he cursed himself for being a horrible, insensitive screw up.  Definitely not. The moisture in his eyes was obviously because the lights were too bright.  So what if Sora wasn't the Guardian he was expecting? The familiar bond was a bond of trust and devotion; it was a pledge of allegiance that both parties carried together until death. You couldn't exactly _send your familiar back_ and ask for a fucking refund. Even if it was so far from your specifications that it was beyond ridiculous.

Sora was his now. That meant it was his duty to look after him and take care of him. If he was honest with himself, the thought of having someone just for him, who would never betray him and would never leave him, filled his chest with an unfamiliar warmth.  Yugo remembered reading that as the bond grew stronger, the summoner and the familiar would be able to share almost everything, magical reserves, thoughts and feelings... Some even shared their lifespans (but he wasn't exactly sure how that worked.)

At the little boy's gut-wrenching words, Yugo's arms tightened around his small form.  The succubus looked even more forlorn and pitiful, wrapped up in his cloak and it made him feel even more like an amoeba.  "I'm so sorry," he cried into his shoulder. "I don't have anyone else either." He dimly wondered what kind of life the little demon had before he summoned him; he didn't even have proper clothes on for Hecate's sake!

And he seemed starved for affection if the way he moaned happily and pressed up against him was any indication, little fingers digging into the fabric of his undershirt.  Although Yugo wasn't very good at affectionate displays, he certainly wouldn't mind giving him more hugs in the future if he was going to be this happy about it...

The fabricated frown on Sora's face curved into a devious smirk while watching the tears roll down his Master's face. The sadistic little succubus believed that toying with mortal's emotions was a game that provided endless fun. One Sora considered himself an expert at. And as his Master buried his shameful face into Sora's shoulder and squeezed him close, he sighed with satisfaction knowing he was the winner of this round.

"...it's so sad that we were both _all alone_..." Sora whimpered and wiped away his own fake tears. He continued his charade of cuteness, "...but..."

"You have me now!" Cheered the tiny demon. He suddenly shoved himself away from Yugo and threw his arms up into the air.  " _All of me_. _However you want me_." Sora shouted and let the robe his Master had so confusingly draped over his shoulders fall to his feet. He felt more uncomfortable wrapped in that silly thing then he did posing half-naked wearing nothing but socks and shorts.

The Succubus couldn't understand why his new Master wouldn't want him on display, when he was made to be admired. Sora leaned in towards Yugo so that he could take a moment to appreciate his new pet. The boy swung his hips seductively, accentuating each curve on his small shapely frame. Behind him was his tail wagging like an excited puppy.

"I am now yours, my Master, completely at your command." This was one thing Sora was not lying about. He was magically bound to his Master, forced to serve by their blood-sealed demonic contact. "For the rest of your little mortal life~!" He cheered blissfully. Because after seeing how easily manipulated he was, Sora knew for sure that this idiot’s life would be very short.

Yugo blinked dumbly at how quickly Sora had gone from weeping to wiggling like a cheerful puppy... but he supposed it was a good thing?? Maybe all demons were like that. He'd much rather not have to deal with crying kids. A little flush rose up into his cheeks at being called 'Master'; it was a little embarrassing. He had never intended to be anyone's master. What he longed for was a partnership: someone to share in his joys and sorrows.

"You don't have to call me that," he said, shifting uncomfortably. He didn't want to give the kid the wrong idea. "My name's not 'Master'. It's Yugo."

The demon was so confusing. What exactly did he mean by 'however he wanted him?' Was there more than one way or something?  He thought he had made it clear that the little demon was welcome.   Yugo resisted the urge to groan. He didn't know the first thing about taking care of a pet, let alone a person! (His numerous dead goldfish could attest to that...) All he knew were the basic concepts: you kept them fed and watered, played with them, and hoped for the best.

At least... That was how he thought it worked.

 

 


	2. In Which Yugo Takes A Bath

* * *

 Chapter II:In Which Yugo Takes A Bath

* * *

 

 

Yugo and his new familiar eyed each other across the room with varying degrees of discomfort and skepticism (disdain in Sora’s case). The mage felt cold just looking at the little demon in his tiny shorts that barely functioned as clothing and figured that you’d have to see about getting him some proper clothes soon. He absently picked the discarded robe off the ground and balled it up with half a mind to toss it into his laundry basket when he got a chance.  He looked around the room and sighed.  

 

So much for making a good impression. The study looked like it had been through a short but brutal civil war, with books and spell ingredients strewn all over the place, not to mention the dark stain spreading out from the shattered jar by his desk. He had spent the past three days holed up in his study, working and reworking the most complicated spell he had ever attempted. He probably should have been more grateful that the spell worked out the way it did because a botched familiar summoning could have had horrible ramifications.  Some of the horrendous accounts he had read had involved the hapless summoner half-fusing himself with a Spider Queen... Yikes.

 

Yugo was starting to feel uncomfortably sticky in his sweat-soaked garment and what he really wanted was a nice hot bath but his skin tingled as his magic hummed agitatedly beneath its surface, begging to be finally _used_ after being suppressed for so long. But now wasn't the time and place for that. Yugo took a deep breath and slowly eased his magic back into his core.

 

With a sigh, he tossed his robe haphazardly onto a couch to deal with later and started to undo the sash that was holding his thin, linen tunic together and it wasn't until he was halfway out of it (giving the succubus an eyeful of his smooth, flawless torso) that he realized that having Sora there also meant he probably shouldn't be stripping in front of an audience.

 

"I'm going to go take a bath," he said and gave the little succubus a slightly sheepish look.  "Uh. You can make yourself comfortable. And I guess you can look around if you want? Since you're gonna be living here now? Sorry, it's a little messy..."

 

All Sora caught of Yugo's bare chest was a teasing glimpse of temptingly soft skin. That's why the tiny demon nearly whimpered when it became frustratingly clear that his Master had no intention of inviting the Succubus to play in the bath.

 

"....oh.... okay...." Sora muttered as he watched his Master walk away from him without a second thought and continue stripping just out of his view.

 

Now Sora was the confused one. He knew from his Master's own painful confession that he had not intended to summon a succubus. Or even a demon for that matter. But the fact that he somehow still did, means his Master must have some secret sexual desires. Sora insisted that Yugo had to have some hormonal cravings, as the tiny demon had yet to meet a mortal that didn't. So why would he not share them with his succubus!?

 

For the first time, in a long time, Sora felt a sense of rejection. He bit down on his lip as he was flooded with worrying feelings as to why his Master didn't find him desirable. That was, after all; what the little Succubus believed to be his only reason for existence. Being denied by the beautiful boy who summoned him, left him unfulfilled in what he considered to be his only purpose.

 

But before Sora was completely consumed in self-pity, he was struck with a thought that made his face light up with hopefulness. What if his Master was a virgin!? Maybe he was just too shy to ask for his Succubus's _company_?

 

Oh how cute! Sora squealed to himself at the comforting thought. Call it denial if you must. But Sora would much rather tell himself his Master was an innocent virgin, needing to be corrupted, then just a boy who simply had no attraction to him…

 

In the adjourning bathroom, Yugo raked a hand through his tousled hair and sighed deeply. If he were totally honest with himself, his retreat was more of a way to hide from his new, daunting responsibilities, than any overwhelming desire to get clean.  Though maybe a bath would help him clear his head and work out exactly what he was going to do about this whole mess.

 

He absently shrugged off the remainder of his clothes, leaving them in a sad pile on the ground and started to generate water element, flicking the spell over to the tub. A swirl of water materialized over it and fell into the tub, splashing messily since he had once again made too much of it and the water overflowed.  With a groan, Yugo shot a blast of heat element at it to compensate, vaporizing the excess liquid and filling the bathroom with a thick cloak of steam.

 

The mage-in-training gingerly dipped a finger in and yanked it out with a yelp when it burned and resentfully threw in an ice spell and tried again. This time, he was relieved to find it no longer scalding.  It was just a little closer to lukewarm but he really wasn’t about to chance another heat spell.  Finally, he slipped into the bath with an exhausted sigh, tensed muscles finally relaxing after three straight nights of failed summonings (and he wasn’t even sure if he could count his final effort a success).  His hands hovered uncertainly around the collar around his neck for a second but he decided not to remove it and instead went to retrieve a bottle of his sweet-smelling shampoo and applied a liberal amount to his hair, working it through the strands furiously.

 

The rhythmic motions of his own fingers were doing wonders to relax him and he sighed happily and sunk deeper into the waters.  He would have to come with some excuse for what Sora was doing here… after he figured out how he was going to explain to the Headmaster about why he had skipped class for three whole days while doing an unsanctioned ritual that could have leveled the entire school...

 

On second thought, maybe he should keep that part to himself?  Figuring out what to do with Sora took priority.  He’d have to get him fed, get him clothes, and clear out a proper place to sleep.  There already wasn’t a lot of room in his dorm, having been mostly converted to a study with most of the floor space taken up by shelves and the workshop.  He himself ended up sleeping in a chair or in the little cot in the corner anyway.  It was easier trying to unload the piles of junk on top of his actual bed.

 

Yugo groaned and sank beneath the water's surface, blowing out a stream of resentful bubbles. The worst part was that he really had no one to blame but himself.

 

The demon-boy was left unsupervised by an incompetent Master who was too busy struggling to even prepare a bath for himself. What hope did he have of caring for a dangerously powerful demonic beast like Sora? The succubus didn't even want to think about how poorly prepared this poor dumb boy was. Instead he nervously glanced around the small cluttered room that Yugo insisted he now call his home.

 

Honestly?

 

It was a filthy mess. A mess that smelled like something had died in it. Whatever it was, it was probably rotting away under one of the many scattered piles of books. Even with walls of shelves stacked high there wasn't enough space for all the young apprentice's magical supplies. Possessions spilled out onto any free surface in the dorm room. His desk, a set of overfilled dressers, and even the floor. There was junk everywhere!

 

Sora gasped in horror when he finally saw what had become of his Master's bed. It looked more like a dragon's hoard. The bed was overflowing with books, the boy's school notes, discarded scrolls, dirty robes, a few mismatched pieces of armor and Sora saw there was even a huge battle-staff buried in the pile.

 

Well it was no wonder his Master hadn't put him to _use_ yet... they didn't even have a place to _do it!_

 

Tiny wings carried the demon over to the desk where he dropped into the seat. He blew away some of the soot that had been spilled earlier by Yugo's little outburst of excessive energy. It seemed his Master had the kind of volatile energy that made Sora's mouth water. But since the little succubus obviously wasn't getting a taste of it anytime soon, he had to do something to take his mind off the temptation that was his Master's virginity.

 

Sora picked up one of Yugo's spell-books and leaned back in the chair to skim through a few pages. As he did what little, faith Sora had in his Master faded with each passing page. The spells were all bland and nothing but white magic. Completely boring stuff to a powerful demon like Sora. But according to the notes that were hastily scribbled all throughout the margins of the spell-book, his Master failed to comprehend even the basics.  

 

The more he read of his Master's study notes, the more Sora felt someone was playing a sick prank on him. There is no way that the mage powerful enough to bind himself to Sora was the same boy who looked at an ingredient list, circled the word 'Cattails' and wrote "From a plant NOT an animal!!!"

 

Sora's face burned with second-hand embarrassment as he wondered if his Master had noted this from firsthand experience.

 

He couldn't possibly endure another word Yugo had written. He carelessly tossed the book to the ground to join the rest of the trash on the floor. This kind of lame white magic bored Sora to tears. He sincerely hoped that's not what his contract holder was studying...

 

If his master was truly that dull, then Sora decided he'd have no choice but to corrupt the purity in the boy's young heart. Or tear it out of his chest trying. Either way, Sora refused to serve an unworthy master.

 

Lucky for Yugo, the one thing Sora did admire about him was his looks. Yugo was without a doubt one of the most attractive men that Sora had been bound to. And since Yugo's tiny trash-filled room and mounds of remedial spell-books did little to entertain the Succubus, he ended up peeking in on his Master's bath time.

 

Sora slipped into the bathroom door slowly. His Master's eyes were closed tight while he massaged through his soapy mess of hair. Good. Yugo was too occupied with his self-care to notice the demon creep into the room. Giving him time to admire the sparkling suds of bubbly soap dripped down his bare naked chest. Sora's eyes followed their trail as they slipped down his Master's defined muscles before hitting the water's surface.

 

With an inhuman kind of stealth, Sora was suddenly at the side of the tub. His giggling finally broke the silence as he said, "You look hot."  

 

He didn't mean the temperature as by now the water was lukewarm. Too bad for Yugo there were only a few bubbles left to hide behind as Sora leaned in close and asked teasingly, "Don't you want me to come have a bath with you too?"

 

Yugo jumped, yelping when Sora unexpectedly appeared at his side, and the bar of soap he had reached for ended up slipping through his fingers and hitting the water with a loud splash.  “What, what?! How…? Since when did you get in here?!” he demanded, unconsciously drawing his knees up to his chest like a maiden protecting his virtue with a flustered blush on his face.  

 

The mage-in-training had a slightly bewildered look on his face at his new familiar’s words.  He looked _hot…_?  But he was actually starting to shiver from his poorly heated bath water… He had no idea what Sora was referring to. Maybe it was… a cultural difference?!  The small boy _was_ supposedly a demon after all.  

 

Yugo decided to give him the benefit of a doubt even as he stared at his un-appealingly cold bath water with a look of perplexity.  

 

“Uh, not really?” he said haltingly, looking a bit like a deer caught in up in an oncoming energy blast.  “It’s too cramped for two people in here.  And the water’s already cold.  So, um.”   Yugo sunk further into the water and racked his brain for a way to kick the little demon out politely.  “I can heat up another bath for you instead?”  He felt a little embarrassed, having been raised rather modestly.  He had never even been to a public bathhouse before.  If he was living alone, he wouldn’t have had a problem wandering around less than fully dressed, but with Sora, someone who was practically a complete stranger, it was a little different.  And he’d probably start expecting the Disciplinary League to show up and arrest him for corrupting a minor or something…

 

Sora may have looked young and cute, but that was all a manipulative act he used to lure poor pathetic mortals to their blissful deaths. With the amount of blood that stained his hands, there was nothing innocent about him. Sora was a sex-demon that had existed for hundreds of years before meeting Yugo, and would continue to exist for hundreds more long after his mortal Master has died. But before Yugo's inevitable death separated them, the Succubus intended on proving to him that there was nothing a sweet little virgin like Yugo could do to corrupt a demon like Sora.

 

So there was no reason for Yugo to be this shy!

 

"Don't be silly." Sora hushed him as he leaned back and let his wings carry his weight. "There is more than enough room!" The stockings he wore were held up with little garter belts that Sora had to undo before he could pull off his socks. He tossed them to the side and quickly slipped out of his shorts right after. Leaving the Succubus standing there showing off his bare legs.  Which were thin but shapely, just like his hips. And the only thing left covering them were a pair of tight underwear and decorative little garter straps.

 

"We'll just have to snuggle up real close~!" Sora smiled. The sharp fangs in his mouth peaked out of his grin as he looked down at his Master, who looked especially adorable with a face burning in embarrassment. Especially when the last few bath bubbles had betrayed Yugo and left him completely exposed to Sora's lustful gaze.

 

The little Succubus reached for down and was just about to strip free of his panties after he giggled, "Oh and don't worry about the heat. _We can just make our own._ "

 

Yugo let out a mortified little squeak as the tiny demon started to strip. Well, he might have bathed together with the other orphans back when he was _five_ but as a fifteen, almost sixteen year old, it was entirely inappropriate!  And Sora, while young-looking enough that Yugo couldn't shake the habit of using 'kid' to describe him, wasn't young enough for Yugo to feel comfortable enough about sharing a tub with. Especially with the way he was staring at him like the dog from the orphanage had stared at a particularly succulent piece of steak. He kind of looked like he wanted to _bite_ him!

 

(He was suddenly a little concerned; what exactly did Sora eat?! He really hoped it wasn't human flesh. How exactly was he supposed to feed a man-eating demon? Would he have to go grave digging? Smuggle up body parts from the laboratories??  ... and would harboring a _flesh eating_ demon get him into more trouble than harboring a regular one? He was so screwed.)

 

"I-I don't think that's a good idea--!" Yugo stammered, squeezing his knees together self-consciously. "Uh. I still haven't really gotten the hang of making heating spells non-offensive... I might end up boiling us alive..."

 

His eyes darted around the small cramped bathroom for something to help him as the demon was now down to the tiniest piece of underwear he had ever seen. It must be really hot, wherever he was from…

 

A head-strong sense of fearlessness came along with being immortal. So not even the threat of a slow and painful death seemed to discourage the little demon from his perverted goal of stealing his Master's virginity. So Sora was shameless in slipping off the last shred of fabric on his body. The demon's sharply pointed tail wrapped around his naked form and teasingly hid himself behind the spade-shaped tip. Aside from the collar around his neck and the bow holding up his hair, the boy was completely bare. And so hungry for his Master it was no wonder Yugo thought Sora looked ready to bite.

 

His wings picked him up and let Sora hover over the tub. Slowly he set himself down into his Master's lap. Or at least that was his plan, but as soon as Sora got close enough to feel with warmth of his body, Yugo became desperate and tried to squirm away.

 

The succubus couldn't understand why his Master was acting so horrified. He splattered water all over the floor in a desperate attempt to get as far away from his naked pet as possible. But all he accomplished was making Sora's exposed curves glisten with the soapy water he'd splashed everywhere. He moved in slowly, trying to calm the panic that the uninvited closeness of his pushy new pet had inspired.

 

"Just relax!" Sora said as he took his Master's face into his palms and forced him to look up and lock eyes. Mind control was one of Sora's favorite tricks. This would not be the first time he had to use his demonic magic to lull a mortal into a false sense of comfort before sinking his teeth into them. And Yugo was so close, Sora could practically taste him.

 

The whites in Sora's eyes radiated with a pale glow that seemed to intensify with each word he spoke. "Stop struggling. Put your arms around me. And pull me in close enough to feel my warmth." Sora may be the subservient one, but he expected no less than perfect compliance from a mortal affected by his mind-control skills.

 

"Don't worry, Master. You will enjoy this."

 

Trapped against the ceramic, with the demon pressing in uncomfortably close, Yugo was starting to feel more than a little claustrophobic.  Sora's cute looks and harmless little kid act had completely put him off his guard but the wicked expression that was stretching across his face was starting to remind Yugo that he had actually summoned some a _demon_ from _Hell_.  And demons were not generally known for being all sunshine and daisies.

 

When Sora grabbed his face, he began to freak out in earnest; he was seriously starting to suspect that Sora was going to _eat_ him. "Hey...! What are you doing---?!" Yugo demanded indignantly and made the mistake of looking up into the Succubus' luminous green eyes.

 

He was hit by a sudden wave of lethargy, a pleasant fog overtaking his thoughts as the knots of tension in his body slowly unwound themselves.  He felt so incredibly comfortable, with the warm bath water lapping gently against his skin and Sora's soft hands cradling his cheeks. His light blue eyes glazed over in a hazy pleasure and his body started to grow pliant, lulled by Sora's sweetly whispered demands.  Why was he struggling so hard?  Couldn't he see that Sora meant no harm? And didn't he feel so _relaxed_ after attempting such a difficult summoning? Yugo let out a breathless little moan and the demon took his chance to press in closer, trailing his greedy hands along his master's smooth flesh.  

 

Yugo couldn't see much harm in obeying the next demand and he slid his arms around Sora's slender waist and drew him in until their bare chests were flush against each other.

The mage looked so cute and obedient, with his eyes full of unquestioning trust and his wet blue hair plastered to his neck. All of Yugo's initial unwillingness had faded away along with the bubbles in his bathtub. Sora didn't care if it was all magically-induced; the Succubus had every intention of taking advantage of the other boy's subdued state. So Sora's sneaky little fingers slipped below the water’s surface and slowly mapped out every curve on his new Master's beautiful body. One of his hands then wandered back up Yugo's side, dragging his nails across his damp skin, leaving long red marks along the way. He gently traced across the curious device strapped around his Master's throat. Sora found this very strange, because to Sora wearing a collar was a sign of subservience. But what did it mean when his Master was wearing one?

 

Soon enough Sora would have his answer. Yugo was almost radiating with a youthful abundance of uncontrolled energy. And being this close to him meant Sora could practically taste it. His mouth watered as he remembered the mess his Master had made earlier. That jar had been broken by a bolt of magic that was inspired purely by emotional energy. Yugo was overflowing with that exact kind of untamed energy that a succubus like Sora thrived off of.

 

To Yugo, Sora's skin felt hot and almost feverish and he smelled like brimstone and something sweet and musky, and then his sharp-toothed mouth had latched onto his collarbone, _biting down hard, and he was sliding a knee between his legs...!_

 

Yugo's blue eyes snapped back to clarity and he let out a strangled shout, unconsciously letting loose an uncontrolled blast of magic that slammed the little succubus into the wall hard enough to make tiny cracks spiderweb across the ceramic tiles.  Yugo immediately looked horrified at his loss of control and quickly rushed over to check up on his familiar.

 

"Oh, crap! Sora!" he exclaimed, leaning over and hastily checking his fluffy head for bumps. "I'm sorry!".

 

When it looked like he'd live, a dark scowl spread across Yugo's face. Even he wasn't stupid enough to not realize what Sora had tried to pull. " **Don't try that again** ," he demanded and the air grew cold and heavy and the clueless mage looked almost... Dangerous.  But that moment quickly passed and he was back to looking flushed and embarrassed when he realized they were both still naked.  "I'm... I'm going to go get dressed," he muttered as he started to beat a hasty retreat.

 

Sora whimpered in confusion. Being only able to get a tiny taste of his master left him feeling sickeningly unfulfilled. He looked completely flustered as Yugo made his stern threat before turning his back to his pet and walking away. Sora wasn't sure what hurt more, the throbbing pain in his spinning head or the humiliation of being rejected!

 

Sora thought for sure he could get away with using his manipulative powers of mind-control to put the little virgin at ease. But after getting unexpectedly struck by bolt of his master's magic, Sora began to fear there would be a lot more of this kind of torturous teasing in his future.

 

Overwhelmed with frustration Sora threw his face into his palms and let out a muffled yelp, in which he cursed his stupid _sexy_ master for being so carelessly cruel. The forces that be made a mistake allowing a clueless kid like Yugo to have a pet. Especially one with the kind of needs as Sora.

 

The neglected little demon took a long deep breath before pulling itself to its feet. As mad as he was about the headache, Sora realized this was exactly why his Master was wearing an enchanted collar. A magical limiter was supposed to keep reckless magisters like Yugo in check. Sora rubbed his head and felt particularly spiteful that it didn't seem to work this time.

With a snap of his fingers the demon was dry and magically re-dressed in his cute outfit from before. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror hung crookedly over the bathroom sink and huffed. It was incomprehensible to think that anyone could resist him.

 


	3. In Which Yugo Goes to School

* * *

 Chapter III: In which Yugo Goes To School

* * *

 

 

Back in the study, Yugo made a clumsy beeline to his over-stuffed dressers, stumbling and cursing when he snagged his bare foot on a discarded boot. Hastily, he yanked open the wardrobe and grabbed the first shirt and pair of pants that were in reach and yanked them on.

 

The sleeveless white top turned out to be a bit too small for him (but his choices were limited since he hadn't done a laundry in weeks) and ended just at his midriff. And it looked like he may have accidentally grabbed his combat gear instead since his trousers were in protective black leathers with long slits cut along the sides for movement.  Feeling just a bit too underdressed for his liking (with an unconfirmed flesh eating demon in his _bathroom_ ), Yugo pulled on his white mage robes, which hung just below his knees and had way too many zippers and buckles, and jammed his feet into the discarded boots.

 

Once he was fully dressed, Yugo heaved a deep sigh, absently reaching up to fiddle with his collar that had grown uncomfortably hot from his outburst. He'd have to get a new one made soon, if what happened with Sora was any indication. His eyes darted back to the bathroom door in trepidation, but when the little succubus showed no signs of tearing out after him, his shoulders slumped in relief.

 

As far as unmitigated disasters went, that could have gone a lot worse, Yugo consoled himself. At the very least he hadn't gone berserk and almost murdered his previous roommate again...

 

But now that the panic had died down and his thoughts and feelings were his own again, guilt weighed heavily in the pit of his stomach at how he _had_ lost control and hurt his familiar: the very boy that he was now responsible for protecting.  Yugo heaved another long, frustrated sigh at how poorly things were already going for them.  

 

Sora was hurt, and not from the bump on his head. Rejection was not something a succubus took well. But no matter how much he wanted to scream at his stupid senseless contract holder, if he did then he'd just be that much less likely to get fed.  

 

It was clear to Sora that he needed to different approach to charming the pathetic virgin he was accidentally bound to.

 

"M-Master?" He squeaked from the doorway of the bathroom. He clung to himself and hugged his nearly naked form comfortingly.

As if on cue the little succubus's eyes began to sparkle with glistening tears. One of which trickled down his cheek as he sniffled over-dramatically and whimpered, "I don't understand!" he barely got the words out before breaking into a hysterically sobbing. He hid the phony tears behind his palms. "Why would you want to hurt me? I'm just so hungry!"

 

At the sight of the little demon's (false, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him) tears, Yugo looked stricken, shame gnawing at his insides like a ravenous parasite.  The teary-eyed demon clearly didn't seem to even realize that he had done anything wrong, likely only acting on the instinct to feed. If anything, this further cemented in his mind the incorrect belief that Sora was a very young, impulsive child that Yugo was now responsible for looking after.

 

Yugo cautiously approached the little succubus again, ignoring how logic was shrieking for him to get the hell away from the demon that had been more than happy to take a bite out of him less than 10 minutes ago.  But at this point he was willing to give Sora the benefit of a doubt. He had been so desperate for a Familiar, and while it had some unintended results, Yugo owed it to them both to try to make this work. They didn't really have a choice.

 

He could work with a flesh eating demon.  Probably.  Although it was a little disturbing for it to come from someone so small and cute, Yugo figured that a lot of other mages had familiars that were not averse to a bite of human flesh every now and then.  He might have had to deal with that issue too, had he succeeded in summoning an actual dragon familiar.

 

(Meanwhile, Logic threw up its hands in disgust and abandoned the dumb mage to his fate.)

 

Yugo steeled his nerves and wrapped his arms around the little demon, hugging him to his chest. "I'm sorry," he apologized again.  "I didn't mean to smack you around like that! I just..." Yugo paused, trying to fish around for the right words. 'I didn't sign up to be _brunch_ ' rolled around in his head but he dismissed that as being too insensitive so he said instead, "I don't think we should be taking baths together, okay?"

 

Yugo brushed his hands across Sora's fluffy head and winced a bit in sympathy when he felt a rather sizable bump and he inwardly wilted a bit at realizing how _fragile_ Sora's small body seemed to be.  On one hand he felt absolutely rotten for being a goddamn child abuser. But on the other, he began to despair; how was he supposed to fight monsters in the field when his familiar was so frail?

 

"I'm sorry," he repeated again and his hands lit up in a soothing white glow and he pressed them against Sora's injury and chanted a basic healing spell.  But with his overabundance of magical energy, the cure's potency was magnified several times over to the point that it could have gotten rid of a bloody, gaping wound, let alone a little bruise.

 

An airy gasp escaped Sora's lips as the feeling of his master's magic flooded over him.  He squeezed himself tightly into Yugo's chest. Getting as close as he could snuggle without stabbing the boy with his sharp horns. The warmth of the mage's white magic filled every inch of his body. It faded to a lingering tingling sensation and made Sora feel so relaxed he practically melted into his Master's arms.

 

Although it was nowhere near as fulfilling as a proper feeding, Sora felt that stealing any kind of energy was pleasurable. If Yugo had bothered to do his homework he'd know that Succubus's needed to feed off sexual energy in order to sustain themselves. Vampiristic demon's like Sora also enjoyed siphoning off magical power. And they loved to manipulate emotions and inspire feelings powerful enough to absorb the strength of. That's exactly why Sora's tears were fabricated. They were designed to inspire potent emotional energy. Sora would have settled for some self-loathing from his Master and maybe a few tears, but he never expected to be overwhelmed with the delicious taste of his new contract holder’s raw magical power.

 

"I'm so sorry I scared you." Sora sniffled, burying his face into his Master's chest. "I'm just so eager to please you!" That was one of the few truthful things he's said. As Sora was bound to this boy (whether he liked it or not) he depended on Yugo to be his primary source of _food_. And being that his new Master kept insisting he was an accident, Sora was a little worried his Master was too pathetic a virgin to appreciate Sora. Or worse...what if he was too _straight_!?

 

"Please Master!" he pleaded with a tearful whimper, "Tell me what it is you want from me!"

 

Yugo wasn't quite sure how Sora thought munching on his bones would equate to _pleasing_ him but he just applied the same strategy he used for when he encountered a bit of magical theory that he just couldn't wrap his head around: he ignored it and hoped it wouldn't be tested later.  Yugo heaved another deep sigh and left his hand resting on Sora's fluffy blue hair.

 

The question put him on the spot; like this was an exam he didn't study for... again.  Yugo acknowledged that, as a mage, he had a lot of room for improvement.  He just wasn't suited for the intricacies that were paramount when it came to studying his art.  Theory was dreadfully dull and confusing and the only things he really had going for him was a ridiculously overstuffed magical core.  He would have been so much happier as a knight or a paladin and spend his days riding around and slaying monsters.  Rather than memorizing formulas, all he really wanted to do was go out and smack things around with a pointy stick.  But that dream died in its infancy when he lost control for the first time and flattened the orphanage he had lived in. And then came the hooded magisters, spouting some nonsense about prodigies and mandatory enrollment and he found himself stuck with a bunch of nerds and a collar around his neck.  

 

He had read that a member of the Arcane Forces could be contracted with in exchange for a steady supply of mana.  Although very few magisters could be bothered to deal with the constant mana drain, Yugo saw the ritual as his chance to be free of this stupid, restrictive collar.  He had desperately hoped for an ancient, powerful familiar who could temper him and guide him, and could handle the strain of his stupidly vast reserves. According to his Astromancy professor, (who was one of the few that he actually liked, even if he was always hanging around his grumpy Chronomancy professor) Yugo would need contract with at least an A-class Familiar, to avoid having his new partner implode on him.  That was a cheery thought...

 

Yugo had had his heart set on appealing to Clear Wing, the oldest of the Synchro dragons, because if he was going to pursue a pipe dream, he might as well go after the biggest freaking pipe there was.

 

Instead, he got Sora. Cute, tiny, (flesh eating) Sora who looked about as likely to go on a monster-slaying expedition as Yugo could go perform _ballet_ for the King.

Maybe that wasn't entirely fair to judge Sora by his looks. But Yugo would rather play it safe than have to go down in history as the only mage stupid enough to implode his own Familiar. Yugo heaved another sigh and clamped down tightly on his magic, trying to ignore how it bubbled under his skin in agitation.

He gave Sora another absent pet and pulled back, uncomfortable with prolonged skin contact. He still hadn't answered the question. What _did_ he want from the succubus? He hoped to still salvage the situation and make the partnership work somehow. He must have summoned Sora for a reason, right? So he should at least try to get to know him and his abilities better.

 

A shrill bell rang through the dorm, signaling that he was missing class for the fourth straight day but Yugo had gotten so used to ignoring it that he didn't even jump.  He gave the little demon a helpless shrug. To be completely honest: he had no fucking clue what he was going to do with him.

 

"I was looking for a battle partner," Yugo admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his damp hair in discomfort. "But I was expecting a dragon and not you. So. Uh." He trailed off to wrack his brains for something to say but he was saved from further floundering by a sharp rap on his door.

 

"Hey," An irritated voice growled. "Get your useless ass to class before I drag you out by your stupid banana-hair. Don't think I won't!"

 

Almost as quickly as Yugo had pushed away from his embrace, Sora was back clinging to his Master. The sound of the door being cracked open made the little Succubus squeak. He realized that being caught by Yugo's school-mate was an inevitability So Sora cloaked his horrifically-demonic and nearly-naked form behind a shroud of illusion magic.

 

He peaked out from behind his Master's back, now appearing as someone who could easily be mistaken a kid from Yugo's class. His demonic features were magically concealed, leaving Sora looking so much more cute and innocent than ever before. His new clothing mimicked the design of one of the school robes he'd seen discarded on the bed earlier when Sora was poking around his dorm room. Except he'd conjured it up with a short skirt that showed off his cute legs and tight white stockings.

Just because the Succubus had the power to do so; the illusion weak-minded mortals would see when looking at him, was that of a young sweet girl. The last thing Sora would want is to get his brand new master hung for getting caught being some kinda hedonistic sodomite. Best they think he was screwing around with some cute girl, then the reality of summoning up an evil sex demon.

 

Yugo was torn between panicking and getting indignant at the newcomer making fun of his hair.

 

“Stuff it, feather-brain!!” he shouted and without paying the boy clinging to his arm any mind, he hurriedly rushed forward lean his weight against the door to stop it from opening any further.  His mind was awhirl as he now struggled with the very real possibility that he was going to get caught and be executed within _minutes_ of summoning a demon by accident.  “And go away! I’m busy!”  And the worst part was that it was fucking Shun Kurosaki who was standing superciliously on the other side of that door.

 

Suspicious golden eyes glared at him through the narrow wedge. “Busy trying to do _what_ , exactly?” he sneered.  “Doing the world a favor by drowning yourself in the toilet?”

 

“Just fuck off!” Yugo exclaimed eloquently, but there was a thread of desperation creeping up into his voice as the little demon’s grip on his arm tightened.  He could have cried from frustration; why couldn’t he get a demon familiar with enough sense to figure out that he should have made himself fucking scarce?!

Kurosaki scowled at him instead.  “I would _love_ to ‘fuck off’,” he said and Yugo could hear the air quotes as he did.  “But for some reason, Yuto cares whether you actually live... or die pathetically like the mutt that you are.”

 

“Well, good for him,” Yugo muttered resentfully, feeling a pit drop into his stomach at the mention of the other boy.  His throat tightened as unpleasant memories welled up in his head and he tried to force the door shut but stupid Kurosaki had the audacity to wedge his foot in the gap.

 

“What are you hiding in there?” Shun demanded, eyes narrowing like a predator about to dig its talons into its prey’s soft underbelly.  Then, without warning, he shoved hard enough at the door to send it smacking into Yugo’s face and making him let go with a yelp.  While Yugo was swearing and nursing the bruise on his forehead, the tall, blue haired man had swept into the room, his long coat trailing behind him as he looked around the place with a scowl.  His eyes narrowed further when he saw the remains of Yugo’s failed summoning circle etched into the floorboards and he whirled around furiously.  “What. Is. This?” he demanded, glaring daggers at the mage.

Then his eyes finally alighted on Yugo’s tiny companion that was still clutching at his arm and staring up at him with large, liquid emerald eyes.  “….What?” he repeated again, but sounding only half as angry as confusion seeped into his voice.

 

"Excuse you!!" shrieked the little Succubus in the moment Shun first made eye contact with _him_. Well, _Her,_ as far as Shun was concerned anyways. And perhaps that was what gave the eldest boy the biggest shock. Not so much that bananas-for-brains was skipping class to fool around, but that he was fooling around with a real live girl!

He stood with his hands on his hips and didn't hesitate to get right up into Shun's face. "Just who do you think you are, butting in here, uninvited!?" Sora spat.

His wide emerald eyes locked on to the gold sparkle in Shun's, as the Demon tried to read his mind. Sora learned that this mage was a little older and a lot wiser than the novice he was bound to. Shun was powerful but kept it reserved. Unlike Yugo, his skills were properly sharpened to a point where Sora feared probing too deep into his private thoughts. As it would alert any good Mage and end up giving away Sora's secret.

 

Those eyes narrowed to a glare as he snapped, "Get out!" From what little he'd learned from scanning the boy’s brain, he found out that he didn't like his Master, and ergo, Sora did not like him. (But judging by the energy that radiated off him, he would probably like the way he tasted.)

Yugo thought he was going to have a heart attack.  What the hell was Sora thinking?! He was actually _drawing attention to himself_ , instead of running for the fucking hills!  This was Shun Kurosaki, a _dark flier_!!  Instead of Yugo’s squishy, crappy white mage class, this asshole worked on the front lines as a Lancer who probably ate little demons like Sora for breakfast!

 

But to his utter bafflement, instead of turning Sora into a smear on the ground at the sight of his clearly demonic horns, Kurosaki just settled for looking vaguely shocked.

Shun’s jaw worked furiously as he tried to wrap his brain around the sheer impossibility of the younger, _clumsier_ mage actually having _associates_ outside of Yuto. (He didn’t count himself since he was hardly anything as disgusting as ‘friendly’ with the reckless boy). But something about her set him on edge.  Despite her small form, there was an undercurrent of _something_ he didn’t like filling the room, though he was hard pressed to identify what that might be.  He eyed the girl somewhat critically, noting the slightly modified cleric uniform, frowning when he saw the rather … short skirt under it.  She didn’t look familiar even though she wore one of the division’s uniforms.  But it wasn’t like Shun cared enough about the boy to know who he hung out with.

 

Shun stood his ground, consciously letting a bit of his magic leak into the room.  Unlike Yugo’s wild, untamed aura, it was carefully controlled and honed to intent precision.  “You’re the one who doesn’t belong,” he said, quiet and dangerously, for a moment, looking much more like _he_ was the fearsome demon of the two.

But the moment passed and he scowled at them instead and turned dramatically on his heel.  “Whatever.  It’s your damn funeral. I’ll just let Yuto know you haven’t died yet.”  He then stalked out from the room, the word ‘unfortunately’ was unspoken but obvious from his tone.

 

Yugo watched him go, stunned into speechlessness before he finally found his voice.  “You don’t need to tell Yuto _shit_ ,” he shouted after his retreating figure.  “I don’t need his mothering!”

 

Then he rounded on Sora, eyes wide with confusion and suspicion as the succubus merely wagged his tail innocently.  “What the fuck was that?!”

"I don't know, but he was a total asshole!" Sora huffed, completely oblivious to the real question. As far as Sora knew his Master was caught up in the same illusionary spell that tricked Shun into thinking the hellish beast was just an innocent cleric girl.

 

The demon was starting to piece together the circumstances of the new life he was forced to live. He had come to accept that Yugo was stupid magically incompetent (and that's why he had to go to school and study, right!?) but what he now realized was that this incompetency made his Master a social outcast. Sora dared not dig deep enough into Shun's brain to find out exactly what, but something awful happened between those two boys, and it left a huge emotional rift.

 

But what he really wanted to know was who Yuto was. Just the way his Master said the name replaced Shun's lingering magical static, with emotional tension that a Succubus like Sora was inherently sensitive to. Whoever he was, he inspired overwhelming feelings in his Master and it left Sora feeling even hungrier than before this whole intrusion began.

 

"I'm just glad we're alone again."

 

Yugo kind of just gaped at him in a kind of outraged confusion, unable to even begin to explain what he found so utterly wrong with this picture.  There was no way in hell that Shun would have backed off like that!  He obviously saw the summoning circle (even though it was obviously flawed) and when he saw Sora’s form, there was no way in _hell_ that a four-year old couldn’t put the pieces together, let alone someone as eagle-eyed as Kurosaki was.

 

Wordlessly, Yugo stalked over to where Sora was and reached out and grabbed ahold of Sora’s still wagging tail, yanking on it almost harshly and ignoring the indignant little yelp that the succubus made.  

 

“What the fuck,” he repeated, tugging roughly on it again for emphasis, “was that?!  He just walked right out?!  He was a fucking _demon slayer_ and he fucking walked out even after he saw your freaking tail?!  What the hell did you do?!”  He was a confusing mix of relief and bewilderment that he had completely forgotten to be gentle.  Or rein in his magic which was now lashing out randomly with no channel to direct it, making the walls shudder and his jars rattle.

 

Each violent yank at his tail sent sharp bolts of pain right up his spine. Sora's Master's carelessness once again left him sore. And not in a fun way! So it was no surprise the Succubus was upset. He hissed like a wild beast baring its fangs. Maybe if Sora tore Yugo's spine out he'd understand how it felt to have someone tug on your tail. The amount of willpower it took to not shove the other boy to the ground and share some of the pain was truly inspiring.

 

As Sora jerked his tail free from his Master's abusive grip, and clung to it protectively, he had a _less-murderous_ thought....

How did was he even able to grab his tail to begin with?!

 

It should have been magically concealed behind the power of Sora's Demonic magic. If he heard correctly (and for his sake he really hoped he didn't) that tall boy who'd burst in just moments ago was some kind of demon slayer. And even with his experience Sora managed to hide his horns and tail from his vision. But when the little Succubus gazed up into the panicked confusion that filled Yugo's eyes, he got an unsettling feeling that his Master could somehow see right through his illusion spells.

Well, this would make his contract more challenging…

 

On the plus side of Sora's enslavement, this new Master was practically radiating with magic that Sora was close enough to he could almost taste. The air crackled with raw energy and once again resulted in something breaking. Sora was just glad it was not directed at him this time.

"He saw only what I wanted him to. And obviously it worked, didn't it!?" Sora barked back at Yugo. "So why are you freaking out at me!?!?" but he bit his tongue after that. Sure there were other things he wanted to shout like 'touch me like that again and I'll tear your arm off' but unless Sora wanted to be the target of his Master's untamed magical outburst he knew he shouldn't provoke him.

 

There was something more important was weighing on him. "If that jerks really a demon slayer then I should be the one freaking out!" Sora was still clinging to his tail protectively. "So next time he bothers us..." he spoke so calm and with a sweetness that made what came next completely unexpected, "...you distract him, and I'll come up from behind and...BAM!" Sora suddenly squeaked and pointed at one of the ingredient jars that filled Yugo's bookshelf. It instantly exploded in a flurry of glass shards and some kind pink powdered dust. Messy. But Sora figured since his master was doing it, he was allowed to, right!? "I'll blow his ugly head off. Problem solved~!"

Yugo was still Not Happy, looking just as perplexed as before as he mulled over Sora's words. "Made him see only what you wanted him to see?" he parroted to himself. After a beat, he frowned as the light of comprehension finally dawned on his face. Sora uncharitably thought that he was witnessing a miracle.  "You can make illusions...?"

 

If it were possible, Yugo's heart sunk even further. Illusions were the WIMPIEST class of magic there was! Half the time they didn't even work if your target's will was too strong... or if they had no imagination. That almost completely dashed whatever hopes he had of getting to be a front line fighter any time soon.  White mages were usually relegated to the back row, or stuck in the infirmary. Unless they had a powerful familiar, they could kiss their chances at ever seeing live combat goodbye.  Well, not that Yugo had been counting on the little demon for that anyway...

 

Yugo was now super curious as to who or what Kurosaki thought he was seeing when he looked at him, though he wasn't really sure if he really wanted to know. He also seemed not to even notice or care that Sora had engaged in wanton destruction of more of his stuff; it would not be very sporting if he did.  Though it was probably because he was far too used to the sound of jars shattering to pay it any mind. All his important possessions were behind a shatterproof ward.

 

But Sora's vicious little plan to... deal with Kurosaki did catch his attention.  His cute face twisted into a resentful scowl as he rubbed at his still-smarting forehead from where the slayer had smacked the door into. "Stupid Kurosaki," he muttered with a surprising amount of bloodlust but it carried an undercurrent of guilt. "If he hates me so much then why the fuck does he keep bothering me?" Then his mood did a complete one eighty (and Sora began to wonder if his stupid master was _actually_ brain damaged) and he cracked an incredibly adorable grin and reached out to ruffle Sora's hair affectionately.  

 

Yugo beamed at him almost sweetly, something in his heart warming up to see the little demon behave almost protectively over him. It was a very rare feeling... At one point it was something that Yuto had inspired in him ... But those memories had now soured, tainted by what had happened between them. Despite the fact that Sora's mere presence opened up a whole can of flesh-eating worms, Yugo was grateful for his company.

 

 

"Kurosaki is an S-class," Yugo explained, shaking with mirth at the thought of cute tiny Sora trying to go against someone as monstrous as Shun Kurosaki. "He has enough firepower to flatten a small army by _himself_. As much as I think he's a smug, stuck up asshole who would look better without his face, I doubt we can take him on." A white mage and an illusionist going against the One-Man-Army? Pfft.

 

 

Especially not since it would make Yuto upset and despite everything, that alone was something he couldn't stand.

 

"Awww!" Sora whined in protest, pouting like the child Yugo believed him to be. His little wings matched his frown, drooping expressively in disappointment.

So the little Succubus just sighed. His eyes darted around the cluttered floor for a long while. He contemplated what it meant to be bound to someone who attends the same school as people who proclaim their pride in the extinction his species. Regardless of what his Master's shallow opinion of Sora's skills, the demon would certainly rank somewhere near an 'S-class' if Sora cared about some silly mortal-made scale. Sora refused to let Kurosaki or his rank intimidate him.

 

Dismissing even the possibility of a Demon Slayer getting the best of him, Sora shook his head and then threw himself into his Master's arms unexpectedly. With a misleadingly sweet tone, Sora leaned into his ear and hauntingly whispered, "Don't worry. We will kill him while he's sleeping. He'll never see it coming~!"

Sora pushed away from Yugo giggling unsettlingly. "But that's for later...." Sora said with his eyes wandering up the body of the boy standing before him. Those slits on the thighs of his leather pants caught Sora's attention and filled him with temptation. "...Now, we should pick up where we left off." he licked his lips, but imagined licking that teasing bit of exposed skin his Master was showing off, in a vain effort to appease the hunger that knotted up his stomach.

 

Poor oblivious Yugo should have done his homework before summoning up the forces of eternal darkness. Maybe then he would have understood what Sora meant when he said, "You were going to feed me, weren't you"

 

But unfortunately, he did not and consequently had no idea what the little succubus was referring to.  Yugo gave Sora an awkward little pat, feeling just the tiniest bit uneasy at how gleeful and serious he sounded about murdering Kurosaki in his bed. It didn't seem very sporting; Yugo much preferred a fight on even grounds. But he dismissed it as mostly harmless venting.

 

"Well, maybe if you _hid_ when you were supposed to, you wouldn't have to worry about Shun fucking Kurosaki," he muttered uncharitably under his breath in a way that Sora probably wasn't meant to hear. He was still a little resentful from the conniption fit he almost had when he saw Sora march up to approach one of the deadliest demon hunters the Academia had ever produced.

 

But this brought him to his latest problem. What exactly was he going to feed him? He was still operating under the incorrect assumption that Sora fed on human flesh. Maybe he could convince him to substitute that with animal meat for now?  

 

"Wait," he hastily. "*Stay right here* while I go get something." At the unconscious command, an invisible force wrapped around the little succubus, compelling him to remain in place as his scatterbrained master disappeared through a set of doors that Sora hadn't even noticed due to a small mountain of stacked crates that obscured the exit.

This left him with nothing to do but take a closer look at his new filthy home.  Upon a second glance, the place was really not as small as it looked... If they got rid of Yugo's piles of junk.  There was literally a massive pile of stuff that looked like it belonged in a scrap heap lying next to his work table along with the jars and jars of unidentified spell ingredients... Along with a jar of something that looked like a bunch of furry tails that made him shudder in disgust.

 

Yugo was only gone for a couple minutes but the impatient succubus was ready to jump him and rip his slutty clothes off.

 

But then he found himself staring dumbfounded at his hands where Yugo had shoved a plate into them. The dish looked like it had been hastily washed (as it was still slightly damp) but what was more alarming was the giant slab of pink ham that was sitting in the middle of it with a fork stabbed into its side.

 

A culinary genius, Yugo obviously was not.

 

Sora turned to yell or something but his stupid Master was already hastily gathering his school supplies.

 

"Sorry!" Yugo called out guiltily as he crammed his books into a satchel. "This is all I have for now. I didn't realize I forgot to restock. I'll sneak something back for you from the cafeteria when I get back... Just... Uh. Make yourself comfortable. I'll be back by noon."

 

This was insulting. Sora looked down at the hunk of gamey meat with disgust. If he wanted to eat mortal food, he'd have just conjured himself up something tasty. Like a sugary cupcake or maybe something sweet he could suck on like a lollipop. Not a piece of filthy pig. He grabbed it by the fork and flung it towards his Master as he obliviously rushed out the dorm room door. He slammed it shut behind him and the slab smacked into it. Sora's supposed breakfast landed on the floor and left a gross mess behind. It didn't even matter because his Master's disgusting room already looked like a dirty dragon hoard.

 

The pissed off little demon threw the plate across the room and didn't wince when it shattered against the wall. He instead growled bitterly about his Master rejecting him once again. This time even completely ditching him! Sora stomped his feet and continued his tantrum as he wondered just how could his new Master have been naive enough to think the sex demon was asking for a plate of food!?

 

Yugo should have known that the only kind of sustenance a demon needed came from the energy they'd steal from mortal souls. But Sora was starting to think that Yugo didn't understand what a Succubus even was...

 

Was Yugo not going to school and studying this kind of stuff? Shouldn't this be covered in demonology 101 for the mage-in-training!? What awful education was he getting in this stupid school!? Sora huffed and flew over to the boy's desk. He started skimming through the book that Yugo had last opened. As Sora flipped through the heavy bound book, he couldn't help but notice the Mage had scribbled on some of the pages. The demon-boy squinted and tried to make sense of his Master's messy notes.

Random things were crossed out, sometimes entire sections. There were absent-minded doodles in the margins alongside senseless memos like 'don’t try again' 'this didn't work', 'smells really bad' 'made no sense??? re-read later' Eventually Sora flipped across a page that so happened to covered the exact subject matter Yugo desperately needed a lesson on, only come to find that Yugo had cross the whole thing out!

 

'Don't study - Not tested' was scribbled next to the section about Succubus.

 

In a fit of blinding rage the little demon torn the damn page right out of the book. Clearly it didn't matter to his Master. He carelessly tossed the book to the floor. Sora magically incinerated the single page he was left holding in his hand and brushed the ashes away with a scowl spread across his face,

Sora kneeled down to examine the sloppy summoning circle that still occasionally flickered with magical sparks lingering from Sora's arrival. It was clear his master was in way over his head. Yugo had no idea how to handle the evil force he'd accidentally invited into his life...

And in that moment Sora felt a rare shred of empathy for the clueless boy. Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, Greed, Envy, Sloth and Pride. These were the emotions Demons are renowned for representing. But Empathy was completely unusual, especially when it was empathy for some dumb mortal.

But something about this Mortal reminded Sora of...himself... Well, unlike Yugo, when Sora had summoned up dark demonic forces, all those years ago, he at least had **intended to.**

 

And just as Yugo had amateurishly drawn out a summoning circle, despite having no experience, guidance, or even an understanding of the fundamentals, Sora had done just the same. And even though Sora, with the naivety of his mortal youth, had intended to call up a creature from hell he certainly didn't get what he was expecting, and he suffered miserably for it. Sora saw fate leading Yugo down that very same path.

 


	4. In Which Yugo Has No Friends

* * *

 Chapter IV: In Which Yugo Has No Friends

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile, while Sora was busy hating the joke the cosmos was making of his life, Yugo was rushing through the halls, his bookbag slung haphazardly over a shoulder.  The people in the halls shot him dirty looks and gave him a wide berth, none of them wanting to be the first that he barreled into.   

 

Yugo rounded the corner sharply hopped onto the elevator, the glowing green disc slowly descending down into the north tower’s lower levels.  He tapped his foot impatiently and either didn’t notice or pretended not to see the way the other students that were sharing the disc with him slowly back away from him, staring at him like he was a ticking bomb.  When the disc approached his destination, he leapt right off, even though there was still about two stories left to go.  As the others let out collective shouts of horror, he landed nimbly on the marble floors, tucking himself into a roll to soften the impact as he continued to run.  

 

At last, Yugo made it to his classroom and barreled through the doors, breathing hard.  “Sorry, I’m late,” he mumbled as about a hundred pairs of eyes swiveled disapprovingly into his direction.  

 

The professor scowled at him, his moustache twitching angrily as he opened his mouth to reprimand him, but Yugo had already plopped himself into a chair at the very back of the lecture hall.  The man turned red with fury but swallowed it down and waved angrily at the board as the complex algorithms shimmered and rearranged themselves.  

 

Yugo pulled his textbook and study notes out, dropping them hastily onto his desk but his eyes were already beginning to glaze over in boredom and incomprehension. Somewhere near the front, a black haired boy with violet bangs turned around, trying to catch his eye but Yugo pretended to be engrossed in his text.

 

The mage-in-training sighed and wondered why he even bothered to show up.  But at least this gave him some time away from Sora so he could sort out his thoughts about what to do.  Absently, another doodle started to take form right on top of his pages which looked like a little fluffball with horns and wings.

 

Then something smacked him in the face and he scowled at the offending paper airplane that was lying innocuously on his desk and shot a glare up at the boy in the front row who was now staring meaningfully at him with his gray eyes.  Yugo gave in and unraveled the note, lest the other boy started pelting him with more paper.  

 

Are you okay?

 

Yugo hastily scrawled back, I’m fine, and magically sent it flying back into the back of his head before trying to actually make an attempt to concentrate, but another airplane smacked him between his eyes.

 

You were gone for three days.

 

Yugo could literally feel the disapproval bleeding through the words and angrily scribbled back. You’re not my keeper. Then there was a pause and Yugo felt a pinprick of guilt hit him and he looked back over to the front, just in time to catch the next plane before it hit him in the eye.

 

Can we talk?  Please?

 

A lump rose up in Yugo’s throat and he finally let himself meet the boy’s eyes and his shoulders slumped.  All thoughts of the lecture or even of what he was going to do about from Sora was suddenly chased from his mind.  

 

Fine.

 

* * *

 

 

Back at the dorms the little succubus was not content to just sit around and wait for his Master to come home. This was no fun! There was practically nothing interesting in the Young mage's messy room, and all Sora really wanted anyways was to play with his new Master. Sora simply couldn't want a moment longer so he decided to go out looking for Yugo.

 

Sora wandered through the hallways of Yugo's prestigious magic academy, cloaked in the same illusion Shun the demon slayer had been tricked by. The only ones who paid him any notice seemed to be more concerned with the immodesty of his skirt length than anything else. Sora didn't mind the attention, especially when it came from cute mage boys~!

 

Yugo's stupid accident was turning out to be quite the opportunity for the little demon. Everywhere he looked there were young beautiful mortals, overflowing with magical energy, and radiating with a blissful innocence Sora couldn't wait to destroy.

 

The demon wandered seemingly aimlessly through the school's corridors. But Sora was just following his instincts. Having his soul magically bound to his Master's meant he could inherently sense the other boy. Like an invisible leash that kept him bound to his contract holder. Following that feeling did not steer Sora in the wrong direction. Down the hall in the distance Sora caught sight of Yugo.

 

There was no mistaking his Master's fruity-colored hair and clueless expression, even from afar. He was standing around against the wall of the busy hallway, looking awkward as always, and a bit flustered.

 

His pet rushed to his side and suddenly clung onto his arm. With how silently sneaky Sora had been, to Yugo it would seem that the demon had just appeared out of thin air. Making it all the more unsettling when he cheered joyfully, "Master~! I missed you!!"

 

 

 

After class, Yugo had debated running out before Yuto could catch up but he thought better of it when he imagined the hurt flashing through those large gray eyes and his stomach clenched in response.  Instead, he dragged his feet, ignoring the look of menace that his professor shot him on his way out, and he lingered out by the door, keeping his eyes averted when the other boy joined him.

 

“Yugo…” he said softly, with a hint of uncertainty creeping into his voice, like he was fishing around for the right words.  “Yugo,” he repeated in a stronger voice and Yugo felt his insides clench at the almost painful nostalgia that the other’s boy’s voice brought surging back.  “You look… tired.”

 

And he was, a little.  With the excitement (?) of his new familiar, he had almost forgotten the long sleepless nights that he had spent poring over his failed ritual.  His shoulders slumped slightly and he finally met the other boy’s eyes.  “I’m fine, Yuto,” he repeated, swallowing convulsively as his eyes started prickle.  “But you should stay away from me.”

 

Yuto’s forehead creased and he opened his mouth to retort, taking a step forward.  “Yugo, stop.  This has gone on long enough.”

 

“No!” Yugo said, shrinking back. “You stop.  You know what happened that time… that time you---! Hey--! What?!” He was abruptly cut off when a pair of arms suddenly seized him around his waist.  Yugo was utterly dumbfounded when he looked down to see a familiar fluffy head buried into his chest.  “Sora…?!”

 

"You look upset!" Gasped the little demon, who appeared to Yuto to be nothing more than a very clingy little cleric girl.

 

He stood up on the tips of his toes and leaned in to whisper, "Let's go back to your room and I'll make you feel better." he giggled and tugged on his arm teasingly. Only then did he noticed the other boy standing there staring at them blankly, in shock.

 

Sora could practically feel the tension between the two of them about to snap. His Master had a mess of emotional energies swirling around inside him. So much that it made Sora remember his hunger. He squeezed tighter down onto his Master's arm. Sora's jagged little nails dug down on the boys wrist as he tugged on Yugo again, pulling him a step further away from his comrade. (Who Sora imagined from the look of him, was another jerk of a demon slayer.)

 

"Come on!" Sora demanded possessively. Making it sound more like Yugo was his servant.

 

Yugo winced a little at the grip on his arm. “Sora, hang on, let go…!”  His mind was awash with confusion and turmoil at being so close to Yuto again and now Sora was here and he just didn’t know what to think.  His magic bubbled uncomfortably and his eyes darted from Yuto to Sora and his heart leapt up into his throat at the very real fear that whatever Sora did to Kurosaki wouldn’t work and then he would have to deal with the fallout.

 

Yuto looked utterly confused at the strange girl who suddenly came out of nowhere and latched onto the white mage with a tenacious ferocity.  “Yugo…?” he asked uncertainly, his frown deepening at the way Yugo made no move to throw the girl off, even with how uncomfortable he looked.  “Who is this?”

 

Yugo’s jaw worked wordlessly as he tried to work out what to say.  “Yuto, it’s not what it looks like…!” he said plaintively, staring at the other boy with pleading eyes.

 

"Eh!?  This?" Sora huffed, gesturing to himself with a scowl on his face. His over-playing outrage continued, "THIS just so happens to be HIS girlfriend! You are excused butting in on our personal time!"

 

By the end of his rant Sora was almost hissing so it was deeply unsettling to see how fast his expression turned to a sweet smile as he look back up and Yugo and sighed deeply, "Having to deal with that ..."

 

Sora shot one last icy glare towards Yuto before finishing with a soft caressing touch to the side of Yugo's weary face, "...It's no wonder you look so upset."

 

Yugo flinched back from Sora’s touch, his eyes wide with confusion and it was enough to make Yuto’s protective hackles rise.  

 

Yuto quickly closed the gap between them, shooting Yugo a protective look when he saw how stressed this ‘Sora’s’ sudden appearance made him.  Yugo had already been high strung at having to have this conversation with him, but whatever slight progress Yuto had made had quickly been dashed at her appearance.

 

“Girlfriend?” he repeated dubiously. “Is this true, Yugo?” The faintly veiled horror in his eyes didn’t lend credence to that claim, if anything Yugo looked like he was preparing to bolt.

 

Yugo’s jaw worked soundlessly, looking completely overwhelmed.  Then the air suddenly crackled in warning as electricity arced up his skin, giving Sora a nasty little jolt and Yugo looked even more horrified if possible. He immediately shoved Sora away from him and shot Yuto a pained look.  “This was… this is a bad idea,” he mumbled, backing away.  “Yuto… Don’t… Don’t look for me anymore. Please.”

 

And with that, he turned on his heels and ran, leaving the two behind.

 

Poor Sora was left standing there, feeling confused and looking as clueless as his Master usually did. The magical discharge still tingled under his skin and had his little hairs standing on end. If Sora hadn't been a hardened demon that burst of energy may have actually hurt!

 

But what was far more painful was hearing that his Master was more concerned with this stupid Yuto kid, then his very own pet. Sora hadn't exactly pieced together the details of the two's relationship but whatever was going on between them Sora knew he hated it! Jealousy struck Sora as quickly as that electric bolt had and his look of shock twisted to disgust as he found himself alone with the boy that stirred up so many feelings in his Master.

 

Sora stood there with his hands on his hips shooting a deadly glare towards Yuto. He sounded so spiteful as he spat out, "You heard him, stay away from us! "

 

"He's mine now!" hissed the demon, his sharpened fangs barely concealed behind his illusion magic.

 

If anything, this only made Yuto more hostile and he glared with a quiet sort of menace, easily towering over the little succubus. A dark aura sprung to life around him, his gray eyes taking on a faint, violet glow.  

 

“Yugo doesn’t belong to anyone,” he snarled, clenching his hands into fists. “He’s not a possession.  And I don’t think you deserve to be around him if you don’t understand that.”  Something wasn’t sitting right with him, the dark haired boy’s instincts as a hunter were screaming at him.  This ‘Sora’ came out of nowhere; he was convinced he had never seen anyone like them in the Academia before today.  And Yugo looked more than uneasy; he had looked frightened (though part of that could have been attributed to him losing control like that). But still.  A small part of him had also bristled at seeing the disguised succubus dig his nails into Yugo’s arm as he tried to order him around.

 

He took a step forward. “Who exactly are you?”

 

The demon-boy was lacking all sense of self-preservation as he chose to continue this confrontation instead of running off while he had the chance. Sora took a step forward as well at looked up to meet Yuto's judgmental gaze.

 

Their eye's locked and in that moment the whites in Sora's illuminated with a dim glow. Sora's powers of manipulation extended farther than just his sugary-sweet looks. He was able to mess with the minds of mortals and often would do so just for fun.

 

But Yuto had a dangerous aura that Sora had no intention of playing around with. Sora could feel the boy’s suspicions growing so he limited his magic to spells that were only quick and subtle. He used his demonic powers to corrupt a select few memories that were highlighted in Yuto's short life. Forcing innocent memories of himself right into the boys brain. Now as far as Yuto could remember Sora's been Yugo's younger class-mate, having his face been artificially inserted into the background of a handful of key memories.

 

"Yuto! You know who I am." Sora sealed his spell with those words and blinked away the lingering glow in his wide emerald eyes. "And you're the one who doesn't deserve him. You never did."

 

Yuto blinked, breaking the eye contact, but the damage was already done.  He winced slightly, a hand reaching for his temples as the new flood of edited memories assaulted his brain.  Suddenly, he could remember seeing the girl from somewhere, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of utter wrongness that was still lingering in the air.  She felt like smoke, her magic intangibly sliding off of his whenever he tried to reach out to get a grasp of it.

 

His reservations aside, had she been a perfectly normal girl, he still wouldn’t have wanted her anywhere near Yugo, especially with the possessive, vicious look in her bright emerald eyes, one that suited her face much more than the false, simpering one she had given Yugo earlier.  She reeked of deceit and he hated it.

 

“I don’t know you,” he maintained.  A handful of memories was hardly enough to know a person.  “And I never said I deserved him.  Yugo and I… That’s our business and you have no right to intrude on that.”

 

With those parting words, he strode right past Sora to signal that the conversation had ended and disappeared down the corridor, opposite to the one that Yugo had fled.  He ached to go after him, but he respected his need for space.

 

Anything to do with his Master was now Sora's self-proclaimed business. Especially when it had to do with his love life. Or lack thereof, as it would seem.

 

When using his magic Sora had being overly cautious. The demon not dared spend any more time than necessary skimming through the other boy’s memories, but he was able to pick up enough information to make sense of their relationship. He saw clear images of the two young men living together, sharing a dorm room, being happy together. It disgusted the demon.

 

Whatever pitiful little love affair Yugo and Yuto had before, Sora would ensure it stayed dead and buried.

 

Sora huffed at Yuto's backside. "This is your only warning, just stay away from us!" He shouted, desperate to get the last word. But the coward didn't stop, he didn't even look back. Sora stomped his foot against the ground and found himself unable to do anything but growl to himself about how much he despised Yugo's stupid schoolmate.

 

Unfortunately for Yugo, Sora did not pay him the same respect as Yuto did. So after the purple haired boy had vanished from his sight Sora hastily began to trace his Master's path to track him down. Too bad for poor Yugo here was nowhere his magically-bound-Master could hide from him.

 

* * *

 

 

Yugo sat listlessly, letting his legs dangle thousands of feet above the ground, perched precariously on top of one of the Academia's balconies in the North Tower.  He heaved a sigh, closing his eyes as he let the wind buffet his hair and clothes.  It did wonders to clear his mind, to be away from the noise and the clutter.

 

Belatedly, he realized that it hadn't been the best the idea to leave Sora by himself with Yuto; after all, the violet haired boy was Shun's partner.  And as fearsome a reputation Shun may have had, Yuto was definitely no slouch - in fact, he was the one called the shots more often than not, possessing a keen, strategic mind. Shun on the other hand, often grew impatient and preferred the strategy of "shower them with meteors until they died."   "Phantom Knight" Yuto might not have been as flashy a moniker as "One Man Army" but he more than made up for it when he took to the skies on the back of his dragon familiar.

 

Dark Rebellion Dragon.  Yuto had received his blessing as part of his right as a member of one of the front line fighters.  It was what inspired Yugo to attempt the familiar ritual on his own, and why he had wanted to contract with Clear Wing Dragon; Dark Rebellion's counterpart.  It was a way to feel closer to Yuto. Had the ritual succeeded that morning, perhaps he would have been with Yuto at this very moment.

 

But Sora should be fine, he reasoned. Yuto had never been anything but gentle and kind to him, and he was never the type to hurt anyone unprovoked. If anything, the way he reacted even after what Yugo did to him made it clear how great his capacity for forgiveness actually was.  As long as Sora didn't do anything stupid like piss him off.  (Well, to be fair, Yuto and Yugo also had some truly vicious fights which Yugo tended to escalate and then Yuto would hit back just as hard as he got. It was one of these fights that had led to Yugo's self-imposed exile.)

 

He felt almost sick with worry and dread and his magic was agitatedly rolling off his skin in waves, the limiter around his neck almost overheating in its attempt to keep it all under control.

 

It was this scene that Sora intruded on when he triumphantly made it to the top of the tower.

 

Sora hadn't even made it a quarter of the way up the tower when he decided to give up on his mortal disguise and started using his wings again. He'd rather take his chances dealing with any mortals unfortunate enough to see him than to take another fucking step up the endless flight of stairs.

 

He reached the top, undetected by any school kids, and at least this way he wasn't completely out of breath when he went to cheer, "Master!!"

 

Yet something about the scene he stumbled upon made Sora's chest feel tight. The demon wondered what purpose his Master had coming to the top of this barren tower to begin with. But seeing Yugo sitting there on the ledge, looking down at the lethal drop below his feet, made Sora feel a little uneasy.

 

"What's wrong?" he asked.

 

Maybe it was the thought of the cute boy contemplating a messy suicide that had Sora's stomach all twisted up.... But the little demon dismissed the idea. Noting the only thing he should be upset about would be missing the opportunity of take his Master's life for him. So it was probably just a natural reaction to the sad, miserable, aura that hung around his Master. Probably...

 

Yugo yelped at having his musings suddenly interrupted by one of the last people he had expected or wanted to see right now.  “S-Sora?!” he exclaimed, clutching at his chest in shock. “How… How did you find me?!” Only Yuto had ever known where to look for him when he went on one of his sulks.  It sent a small twinge of pain to know that Yuto wouldn’t be looking for him anymore.

 

His poor clueless Master didn't seem to even understand the basics of how demonic contracts worked. Their souls were bound together, outlined by a document signed in blood. That meant Sora would always be able to sense Yugo, wherever he was, as long as his little heart kept beating, anyways.

 

But this time Yugo's unending ignorance just made Sora giggle. "You can't escape me, silly!" Sora's wings fluttered behind him as he squeezed in extra close to his master. Placing his hand on top of Yugo's in some vain effort to be comforting, "You're stuck with me now, Forever."

 

Yugo recoiled, drawing his hand back to his chest so fast it almost gave Sora whiplash. The little succubus was about to take offense but Yugo's eyes were lit with a self-loathing guilt when he realized that he had lost control and took it out on Sora yet again. And he was too self-absorbed, too wrapped up in angsting about Yuto that he hadn't even bothered to check if Sora was okay; Yugo had given him a nasty jolt which had been enough to send more than one hapless classmate to the infirmary back when he had still been allowed to spar.

 

He couldn't understand why Sora would still willingly seek him out, even after how utterly shitty a contractor he was proving to be.

 

"You... You shouldn't touch me right now," he warned, drawing his arms to wrap around his sides. He was feeling volatile like a half-finished set of runes being forcefully activated.

 

"But that's my job!" As Sora said that he realized that Yugo didn't even understand. He hadn't properly studied even the basics of demonology. So what was the hope in him comprehending what a Succubus was for.

 

And It just wasn't fair! Yugo was brimming with the kind of energy that made Sora's mouth water. Even now the boy was bubbling over with the untamed magical powers that Sora had twice now been assaulted with. But being a demon that fed off energy (and admittedly a bit of a masochist) Sora really didn't mind.

 

The demon-boy was at Yugo's back and without any warning he wrapped his arms around his master's narrow waist and forcibly cuddled up to him. He rested his head against Yugo's back and squeezed him closer. Being so close to such a radiantly powerful young mage, and not being able to sink his teeth into him, was such a tease. But none of Sora's pain could be heard in the softly lulling voice he used to say, "Please don't worry, Master."

 

"Just because that Yuto guy wants nothing to do with you..." In what Sora saw in memories of Yugo's classmate, nothing could be further from the truth. But the Succubus loved manipulating mortals, especially the ones he had to call his Master. And more importantly he loved breaking hearts. "...doesn't mean that's how I feel too."

 

‘Yuto wants nothing to do with you.’

 

At those words, Yugo’s breath hitched, doubt and worry and regret flickering in his eyes.  Logically, he knew Yuto still hasn't given up on him, and sometimes that was all that got him through the day. That Yuto still cared on some level. But Yugo's insides writhed at the thought that maybe this time he had pushed him away too far.  After all, Yuto didn't come after him this time. Maybe he was getting sick of chasing after him and trying to clean up his messes.

 

"Did he... Did he say that to you?" The words slipped out from his mouth before he could take it back and he hated how pathetic and vulnerable they sounded.

 

Yugo was a very tactile person but it had been so long since he had touched another person besides Sora, for fear of accidentally hurting them with his magical outbursts, like he had just demonstrated. But the little succubus didn't look any worse off than usual and it started to give him the faint hope that demons were hardier than they looked.

 

With a deep sigh, he consciously tried to stop worrying over Yuto. It wasn't fair to Sora who had nothing here for him, besides some stupid contract that neither of them particularly wanted. If Sora was making an effort, then Yugo should have to as well.   Yugo brought his arms up to wrap around Sora to return the hug. Holding his small warm body was much more comforting than he anticipated and made him feel like he was cuddling a living teddy bear. Yugo could feel himself slowly calming down. After a long while, he pulled back, looking much more in control of himself.

 

"Thanks, Sora," he said sincerely, with a sweet, bashful smile on his face and he impulsively leaned forward to give him a small kiss on the top of his fluffy hair, just between his horns.

 

There was a magical aura around his Master that Sora was able to feel. And like degassing a magnetic field, his touch absorbed all that excess energy that Yugo's early outburst had inspired. Being in such a close embrace with his Master gave Sora a real taste of what he'd been craving. Even if it was barely a trickle of his magical energy, the little demon thought it was delicious. But he was selfish and wanted more. The only thing stopping him from sinking his teeth into his Master and sucking his energy out that way, was remembering how he reacted the last time Sora had tried. And even though the demon-boy had wings, didn't want to repeat that while perched on top of the edge of a tall tower.

 

Sora was about to further deceive the easily manipulated mage into thinking Yuto hated him, but what Yugo said next completely caught him off guard. "T-Thanks!? For what!?" That kiss left him feeling flushed and he stumbled over his words. Sora sounded so confused. This was not the typical treatment the little Succubus was given. But then again Yugo was not his typical kind of Master...

 

"...I should be the one thanking you, my Master. You are the reason I exist in this world now."

 

Yugo patted his head again, seemingly finding the motion comforting (a little similar to how certain people calmed down when they cuddled up with and stroked a large cat).

 

"I dunno... Just, thanks." Yugo said with an embarrassed little shrug, having difficulties putting into words exactly what he was thankful for.  He supposed he was thanking him for being there for him and finding him when he hadn't asked to be found. Yugo tended to mope and think himself into circles when he was left alone and sometimes he would end up doing something reckless and stupid (like summoning up a demon). He wanted to thank him for actually wanting to stick around, even after seeing how bad tempered and volatile he was. Even though his magic had lashed out wildly at Sora twice now, he still seemed to have no reservations in touching him. Even Yuto had been wary of touching his skin directly- and with good reason too, considering how he had sent a group of their classmates into intensive care (when they had tried to gang up on him and stupidly startled him by grabbing his mouth from behind).

 

Suddenly, he felt a wave of affection for the cuddly little succubus and ruffled his cotton-candy hair and he finally took the time to take a good look at his new familiar, taking in his horns and wings and flicking tail and idly wondering just want kind of demon a succubus was.

 

Having very little concept of personal space himself, his curious hands roamed over Sora's head, lightly petting his curly horns in fascination. They were smooth, but pulsed with something warm and magical that was entirely unlike the coolness he had expected from his experience with petting goats and sheep down by the farms.  Then he moved on to explore his wings, carefully running his fingers along the gentle folds of where his baby-soft skin turned smooth and leathery.  He was so wrapped him in his exploration that he didn't realize that his new familiar was now red-faced and panting and trying his best to rub up against him. Yugo frowned in alarm and drew his hands back to cup his burning cheeks.

 

"Sora?! Are you okay?!"

 

Sora ended up tightly squeezed into his Master's warm embrace as he slowly examined Sora's demonic features. The gentle fingers that traced over the length of his horns set the demon's cheeks on fire with a bright blush. He practically melted into Yugo's arms. Sora took a deep breath of his Master's sweet scent that smelled like of the bubbly soap from their bath earlier.

 

The poor attention-starved succubus had to bite down on his lip to stop himself from moaning with the touch of his Master's hands sliding down his back. Sora's wings were very sensitive and delicate yet he did not hesitate to relax and submit to his Master's exploration. Sora's Masters were the only people who he ever let get this intimate with him. Everyone else was just prey, and wouldn't live tell about how they got this close to him. But something about Yugo's innocence made him feel especially trustworthy.

 

Yugo's textbook had a whole section on demon anatomy that Yugo obviously didn't read, but Sora didn't mind being the subject of his Master's experimentation. He only hoped it would lead the little virgin down a path of using Sora for any other anatomy experiments the curious young boy could come up with.

 

The very thought was getting Sora hot and being the needy succubus he was he couldn't resist any longer. Yugo was just lucky he noticed before Sora tried to sink his teeth into him again.

 

"More than okay!" he answered, with lust in every word, "You can touch me however you want, Master. I'm yours to play with."

 

It seemed like those hadn't been the magic words to unlock his master's more carnal desires like Sora had hoped when Yugo's brows knitted with confusion and drew his hands away.  

 

The boy's face was also turning bright red, but not exactly for the same reasons Sora hoped. "S-sorry," he mumbled, tucking his hands behind his back as if he couldn't understand what had come over him to touch Sora like that. He had treated him like an animal in a petting zoo, and not like the intelligent, sentient being he obviously was.  Yugo would have hated to be touched and prodded at like some kind of oddity to be investigated. Looking back on his actions, he had unconsciously treating him more like a pet than a person. And with how red Sora had gotten, Yugo figured he had made him uncomfortable but he was being too kind(?!) to chastise him.

 

"I'm sorry," he repeated again, ducking his head. "You don't need to call me 'Master'. Just Yugo's fine.  And you're my familiar; not my servant or my toy or whatever. I want us to be partners."

 

He wanted to have someone he could trust and rely on and someone powerful that he couldn't hurt accidentally. To have a bond like Yuto and Dark Rebellion's, something to ease his loneliness.

 

Giving Sora's head one last pat (because he just couldn't seem to resist the fluffiness) he straightened up with a shy grin. "Maybe I'll ditch the rest of classes and then we can spend the rest of the day getting to know each other better?"

 

Sora stood there staring up with confused wide eyes. He tilted his head to the side as he tried to comprehend the strange request. But none of what Yugo had said made any sense. The little demon had fulfilled countless contracts throughout his long immortal life. It was his summoners; like Yugo, who wrote out the conditions of his servitude. And being that he was a sex demon, a toy was a disturbingly accurate description of the way Sora was often treated by his summoners.

 

"...Partners!?"

 

Never had Sora been called someone's partner. He wasn't sure what to say, or why it made him feel so fluttery inside. He'd been called a boyfriend (girlfriend was fine too Sora loved to present himself as a cute girl) and that he understood, but it was more about his Master's bragging rights then partnership. Now Sora was the confused one.

 

Sora gasped when he heard his Master's plans to screw off from classes to hopefully screw around with him. The succubus was attention starved, and tried not to make that sound too obvious as he swooned, "We can do whatever you desire, but that sure sounds like a lot of fun to me!~" his tail wagging behind his back excitedly, just a dog being offered a treat.

 

Yugo beamed at him, looking delighted that Sora looked just as eager to follow through on his suggestion.

 

"That's great!" He cheered, carelessly pushing off the windowsill so that he was safely back in the tower. Then he held out a gloved hand for the little succubus to take. "Why don't we go somewhere more private? There's this place out in the woods where no one else really goes. Then we can be as loud as we want."

 

As Sora nearly melted at the idea that his master was FINALLY going to take him out to his hidden love nest and engage in loud activities with him, Yugo was busy planning out something entirely different.

 

To the mage in training, there really was only one way to really get to know another person: fighting them in a duel!

 

From what little he remembered from Demonology 101, almost all demons had SOME kind of offensive capability.  He couldn't wait to find out what Sora's was. He was sure that by fighting together, they could achieve the comfortable partnership he had dreamed of.

 

After all, the first time he and Yuto met, they had ended up in a fistfight that landed them both in the infirmary for a week...

 

Eager for some intimate time with his new Master, Sora took his hand and was ready to obediently follow. The little succubus's mind wandered away with him, thinking about all the things Yugo could be planning to do to him that would make him scream.

 

"And you're sure you won't get in trouble for skipping class to fool around with me?" Sora giggled, and leaned in close. He looked up at Yugo with wide green eyes that sparkled like emeralds, and hide the perverted thoughts behind them. How lucky for Sora that Yugo messed up his summoning circle. Because so rarely did Sora end up with young, hot and innocent Masters. And even if he had not intended to contract a demon, he was obviously powerful enough to. Sora thought about the fun different ways he could suck all that power right out of him.

 

Yugo made a bit of a face, thinking back to his terrible attendance record.  One more afternoon couldn’t make it much worse, not after he had already missed most of the semester.  “Nah, it’ll be fine,” he said somewhat dismissively.  “And besides, it’s not every day I get a new familiar,” he said sheepishly.  He was about to start climbing back down the tower when a stray thought suddenly struck him and he peered down at Sora critically, particularly noting his curled horns and eagerly swishing tail.

 

He wasn’t sure how exactly Sora had managed to get all the way up the tower without being spotted but he wasn’t about to try to stretch his luck. Forgetting all about asking for permission, he suddenly scooped Sora up into his arms and hopped up onto the windowsill.

 

“It’ll be faster if we take a shortcut,” he said, not noticing the alarm on Sora’s face.  “I don’t want to risk anyone catching us since this place is technically off limits.”  Before Sora could even protest, Yugo had pushed off the ledge and the two were plummeting towards the ground.

  



	5. In Which Yugo Plays With Sora

* * *

 Chapter V: In Which Yugo Plays With Sora

* * *

 

 

Yugo let out an exhilarated laugh as the wind rushed his hair and didn’t seem to notice the horrified look on his familiar’s face as the little demon tried to struggle out of his hold with his wings flapping agitatedly.   Luckily for him, moments before they hit the ground, Yugo aimed a small, sharp burst of air element which slammed against the ground and propelling them back up into the air and slowing their momentum until Yugo could land safely on the ground with Sora still tucked securely in his arms.  The mage grinned at him, looking just a little windswept but none the worse for wear from performing a stunt that even the most experienced wind mages would never dare to.  

 

“It’s just this way,” Yugo said, plopping Sora back on the ground and gave his hand an insistent tug, eager to be away from the castle and at the promise to finally get to use his magic for once.  

 

Sora's fluffy little head was still spinning. Why would a mortal be so reckless with their flimsy body!? At least if Sora had gotten splattered all over the place from that stupid stunt, he'd have ended up back in Hell in one piece. And Yugo would still be a stain on the ground.

 

The poor boy didn't even have a chance to collect his thoughts before his Master dragged him off like he was a dog on a short leash. And he kinda did look like one with his tail wagging behind him as they trailed off into the woods together.

 

They wandered down the deep forested path. Eventually it opened up to a clearing that was highlighted in the late fall colors. The opening looked to be formed in the scar of a magical blast that must have happened a few years ago since the lighter foliage had already started to grow back in. Even a few small tree sprouts had sprung up in the field. Although they looked particular pathetic and bare in the last season. There were scattered gashes cut into the ground from recent battled that had taken place out here. And the far corner of the clearing was nothing but a muddy pond filled with thick murky water.

 

Sora put his hands on his hips and pouted.

 

He wasn't impressed. Is this the place his Master wanted to lose his virginity? Sure they could be as loud as they wanted out here, but honestly, he had pictured something more romantic. Like a beautiful flowery meadow or maybe alongside his a small peaceful creek. But Sora knew that anything his Master wanted, he would let him have. Even if he wanted it in a gross field. Filled with discarded trash, some well-used ranged targets, and the crumbling stone walls of what was probably once some kind of tower. At least it seemed to have less junk in it then Yugo's dirty dorm room.

 

Yugo shot him a quick grin and to Sora's disappointment, dropped his hand and eagerly bounded across the clearing while nimbly avoiding the debris on ground with long, practiced strides. Then he shrugged of his white robes and tossed them over to hang haphazardly on a gnarled set of branches off by the wayside, leaving him in only his midriff-baring tank, his arm bracers, and the tight leather trousers that Sora decided he absolutely hated.

 

Yugo rolled his surprisingly developed shoulders (especially for a squishy mage) and pulled his arms tight above his head to stretch out his spine, his pale torso curving so beautifully it had the _succubus_ swallowing hard. His sinfully tiny shirt rose up as he stretched, exposing another delicious inch of his pale, toned torso.  

 

"Alright, Sora! Come at me however you want!  I wanna see what you can do," Yugo called out, abruptly adopting a battle stance with his fists up in the air and then the forest was filled with enough static to make every hair on Sora's head stand on end and waves of electricity arched over the mage's skin. And to even Sora, it was clear that Yugo's definition of 'getting to know each other' was _painfully_ different from his own. As Yugo watched him expectantly, Sora came to the realization that his master was a MEAT-HEADED IDIOT, who seemed to be INCAPABLE of THINKING WITH HIS OTHER HEAD.

 

The succubus was expecting that the trip out into the forest would end in making wild love to his young beautiful Master. Instead Yugo seemed more focused on becoming his pet's target practice. Did this stupid white Mage really believe he'd be able to survive a Demon's full force?  Sora laughed to himself under his breath. He could clearly picture the bloody mess he'd make of his Master if he truly did show him 'what he can do' And at this point Yugo would have deserved it for being such a tease.

Yugo's bright blue eyes sparkled in the midday sun as they followed Sora. He cautiously paced around Yugo and asked tauntingly, "So this is really how you want to play?"

 

Sora hoped this was just his Master's type of foreplay. Certainly Sora had seen weirder. "Are you sure? I...I don't want to hurt you." It sounded so sweet and sincere, but that was a blatant lie. But mostly everything that came out of Sora's mouth was.

 

"I may look cute and fuzzy..." He said as his eye's meet his Master's stare. A devious smirk spread across Sora's face, but before Yugo had a chance to figure out why he was suddenly smiling, the little demon seemingly vanished.

 

In a flash he was at Yugo's backside and his fingers were pressed against his exposed midriff. Both hands were at either side of Yugo's bare stomach and in this position Sora could feel the tingling charge of the boys radiant magical energy. As well as the sharp breath he drew as Sora whispered in his ear, "...I am a demon, after-all."

 

His nails clenched down into Yugo's delicate skin. All the electric energy buzzing through the air from his Master's overpowered core felt too good to resist, and with the blood that was drawn the Succubus was able to siphon some of it off. Sora violently raked his nails across Yugo's sides, leaving behind bloody trails down his back.

 

Sora felt himself surge with energy as he jumped back, away from his Master. His hands crackled with magical energy that was just moments ago at the Mage's fingertips. Manipulating people was almost as much fun as manipulating magic. So Sora spun the electrical charge of magic into an orb between his two hands. Enjoying the way it sparkled with the burning bright glow from the heat and power of an untamed swirling mass of magic.

 

Exactly as ordered, Sora attacked and sent the volatile ball of electricity flying towards his Master. Assaulting him with the very same energy Sora had just stolen from him.

 

Yugo yelped when Sora had suddenly moved, much faster than he had expected it and slipped right under his guard, digging his nails into his sides.  He was gone before Yugo even thought to retaliate and then he was diving out of the way and feeling the static and the wood shards scrape his skin when the tree behind him exploded.   Despite the blood leaking from his skin and another crackling bolt aimed at his face he laughed in delight, feeling extraordinarily _glad_ that his familiar was actually much stronger than he looked.

 

From what Yugo noted, Sora had seemed to be some sort of illusionist, or at least had a way of messing with people's perceptions which was the only explanation for both Shun _and_ Yuto to blow past the fact that he had wings and horns and a _tail_. But if that last attack as an illusion, it was the best he had ever seen for it had perfectly replicated every detail, from the sudden scorching blast of heat to smell of ozone in the air.  And what was more interesting was that he could unmistakably feel his own magical signature in that bolt. To his surprise, the excess energy that always bubbled violently under his skin was suddenly gone and with it, the steady burn from the choker around his neck.

 

Was Sora some kind of _vampire_?!

 

... That would explain the whole biting thing. Yugo inwardly slumped in relief.  A bloodsucker was probably much easier to handle than a demon with an appetite for human flesh. Nothing a couple of blood pills wouldn't take care of, anyway.

 

For the first time, Yugo finally felt optimistic about this partnership.

 

But he still had several deadly bolts to contend with. For all Sora said about not wanting to hurt him, he was being quite cavalier about lobbing those sizzling balls of death at him.

 

The mage automatically slipped into a cool, analytical mindset that Sora wouldn't have believed he was capable off. Within seconds before the attack hit, he reached, grasping onto the surrounding earth element and _pulled_ , encasing himself in a protective dome that had the charges dissipating harmlessly against the shell and sinking into the ground.  Then the dome burst apart, showering Sora with bits of stone and dirt and and another burst of wind element launched Yugo backwards into the air until he landed a relatively safe distance away, smirking almost cockily with the claw marks on his torso already healed up.

 

"Is that the best you've got, Sora?" He teased in a good-natured kind of way, actually relaxing his stance. He didn't have any intention of going on the offensive; the point of the exercise was just to familiarize themselves with each other's techniques.

 

His Master looked so pleased with him, despite having just tried to melt his face off with a burning ball of electrical magic. Well, if it was destruction his Master wanted, Sora was happy to give him that.

 

"Of course not..." He said with an overconfident grin across his face. Using what was left of the static energy he'd siphoned off, Sora mounted his next attack. The power crackled at his fingertips but this time instead of aiming directly for Yugo, he sent the ball of energy shooting straight into the clouds. Waves of electrical force sparked through the atmosphere, quickly tainting the light overhead cloud coverage and turning them into heavy storm clouds.   

 

The sky continued to darken as the little demon made a circular gesture with his hand, still in control of the magic that was starting to stir up a powerful storm. There wasn't a single drop of rain that fell from the unnaturally formed clouds, but loud bursts of thunder began to rumble from overhead.

 

"This is your magic I'm using, Master. So I suppose _this_ is the best _you've_ got." The arrogance in his voice was quickly drowned out by another deafening crack of thunder. With one quick swipe of his hand a thick bolt of burning blue lightning headed for the ground, aimed straight for Yugo.

 

Yugo watched with amazement to see how deftly Sora had made use of what little magic he had siphoned off of him; his spells were non-verbal and perfectly controlled, with not one bit of wasted energy.  To be able to take control of and shape something as far away as the clouds took an inordinate amount of control; Yugo himself had trouble consciously maintaining any sort of spell beyond 200 meters - not that he couldn't get around it by pumping enough magic into his spells until they were virtually self-sustaining.

 

This spell was definitely at least B-rank, just from the sheer concentration of magical energy, easily ten times stronger than the blue bolts Sora was throwing around earlier.   Considering how much the storm cloud's natural charges had seemed to amplify the attack, Yugo's beginner's Earthen Shield would be obliterated within seconds.

 

But that was fine; Yugo wasn't so good (really sucked) at defensive spells anyway.  It really wasn't his style.  After all, the best defense was a good offense!

Hands sparking with the same blue lightning, Yugo let out a fierce cry and answered Sora's attack with a tremendous burst of raw magical power, and the two bolts collided midair with a deafening explosion, sending massive shockwaves rippling through the clearing, tearing the trees straight from their roots, and knocking Yugo clean off his feet.

 

The white mage crashed through several old oak trees before finally tumbling to the ground in a bruised, motionless heap.

 

But before Sora could start to fret that his stupid, reckless master had killed himself, during a _friendly spar_ and Sora _never even got to taste him_ , Yugo groaned and pushed himself to his feet.  His clothing was in tatters and seemed to be clinging to his body by sheer force of will.  He had angry electrical burns in the form of lightning-patterned scars all over his arms where he had been far too close to the discharge to get out unharmed.

 

But Yugo had never looked more delighted, despite how close he had actually come to being killed, seemingly unbothered by sheer scale of destruction that the two had created within the span of minutes.  If the training ground had looked like a mess before, now it was just a disaster with almost all of the nearby trees upended, including the pathetic little sprouts that had been valiantly trying to grow in.

 

"That was incredible, Sora!" He cheered and then he was suddenly had his arms wrapped around the little succubus' body in an enthusiastic hug, lifting him clean off the ground as he spun him around. "How come you never told me you were so good?!"

 

Sora giggled and cheered blissfully alongside Yugo, wrapping his arms around his Master's shoulders and hugging him close. "Well to be honest that was just for fun. I wasn't really being serious..."

 

Yugo gently lowered the little demon back to the ground as he suddenly had a look of concern on his face "...but maybe I shouldn't demonstrate my full power on _you_." He said has his delicate little fingers traced up the burn marks across his Master's arm. "Let's save it for something you actually want dead!" And with that thought he was back to smiling.

 

"Ooh, like maybe that stupid demon hunter!" Sora said with a swing of his hips and a playfully excited wag of his sharply pointed tail.

 

Yugo only laughed and ruffled Sora's hair, feeling a wave of affectionate for the little demon. "Don't worry, I can take a beating," he consoled, carefully flexing a hand and wincing a little when the skin stretched uncomfortably, but not enough to take away his mobility. "I should have some burn salve at home. If not, I can always mix some up."  

 

Yugo laced his fingers above his head, stretching his back out with a series of satisfying cracks. He sighed happily, his magic humming contentedly for once instead of trying to crawl out from his skin.  His muscles felt pleasantly sore and he was briefly surprised at how lethargic he had gotten before he remembered he hadn't actually slept for three days. Stifling a yawn, he automatically reached out to grasp Sora's hand to lead him back to the school.

 

"Is it okay if we spar some more later?" Yugo remembered to ask, absently brushing a stray twig from Sora's hair. "We could probably use another bath. Or something to eat."

 

The bright blue haired boy grabbed hold of the others hand tightly. He leaned in close but carefully avoided the burns he had accidentally caused. Sora had no intention of actually killing his poor, dumb, Master. Not yet anyways. So maybe sparring wasn't such a good idea. But he smiled anyways and humored him anyways, "How about next time I'll be the one on the defensive." Sora giggled. Despite not looking it, Sora was far less fragile than his Master. But he had learned to not brag about his immortality, as his contract holders had a bad habit of taking advantage of it. It was so much more fun for them to discover that little quirk of his all on their own.

 

"A bath sounds nice. Just don't freak out again,“ he muttered that last part under his breath before cheerfully continuing, "But if you want to feed me that would be even better." He smirked like the mischievous little demon he truly was.

 

Yugo’s pale cheeks took on a pink tint as it appeared that Sora hadn’t spoken as softly as he had thought.  “I wasn’t freaking out,” he mumbled, recalling how he did in fact freak out and sent the poor little demon flying into a wall.  He made a mental note to see if he could repair the cracks later.  “You just surprised me!”

 

And all goodwill aside, Yugo wasn’t about to forget that Sora had also been trying to use some kind of hypnosis on him so he could try to eat him!  Yugo dearly hoped that was just a phase.  

 

Stupid Kurosaki would never let him live it down if he found out that Yugo was eaten by his own familiar. Such a thing wasn’t exactly unheard of - another big part of why familiars really weren’t so popular on top of the mana drain.  Yugo made a mental note to do some extra reading, especially on succubae.  He wanted to get a better idea of just what he was getting into with Sora who was clearly much more than he first appeared to be.   

 

Yugo stifled another yawn and absently scooped up his familiar so he was carrying him in his arms so the demon wouldn’t have to keep beating his tiny wings. “I think I have some more ham back home,” he said to himself.

 

The little demon looked so content to be held like a cute baby in his Master's strong arms, until Yugo dared to make a dinner suggestion. "Ugh!" Sora whined, like an actual baby. The very thought of being forced to eat a single bite of that revolting swine meat made his stomach turn. "I don't want that kind of food." He said in a huff.

 

Yugo would know all this if he studied. But perhaps it was better for Sora's sake that he didn't. The page he'd ripped out of Yugo's textbook spelled it out pretty clearly. The succubus was much more interested in eating Yugo for dinner.

 

Yugo blinked down at him in bewilderment, like he had no idea why Sora was so vehemently against it.  “What do you want to eat, then?” he asked, tilting his head cautiously. Did Sora have a problem with meat? Or was it just because it wasn’t… human flesh?!  

 

Yugo opened his mouth to ask but abruptly closed it again when he suddenly felt a bunch of high-level auras approach from the direction of the castle.  “Ah, shit,” he swore with a loud groan as he broke off into a run with Sora securely in his arms, darting along the shadows in the trees.  “It looks like we’re gonna get company!”  

 

Technically the forest was off-limits, particularly to a low-class student like himself.  He almost wanted to hit himself; what were they thinking, tossing around such showy magic?!  Of course someone was going to notice!

 

"What the hell!?" Sora clung to his Master as he for some bizarre reason took a sudden leap off the dirt path and started racing along the forest edge. Whatever was coming down the path ahead of them Yugo desperately wanted to avoid. He tried to lose them by slipping deeper into the forest. But it must have been the noise he made as he hustled through the layers of discolored leaves littering the forest that gave their position away. Because Sora could see at their backside a group of kids in uniforms following them in deeper.

 

Similar to Yugo's their outfits were just a different color and a little fancier. Why was he so worried about his classmates? Sora hoped it wasn't because Yugo was worrying about getting caught with the demon. Because Sora could take care of himself!

 

Unfortunately it seemed Yugo could not say the same. After barely recovering an upheaved root tripping him, he then stumbled right over a fallen trunk of rotting wood. Sora shrieked and jumped out of Yugo's arms, fluttering his wings in a panic so at the very least he didn't go crashing to the ground like his poor Master did.

 

The decaying fall forest had little cover to hide behind and the other kids were hot on their tail. Sora scrambled to help Yugo to his feet, but felt his sense of panic when they heard the angry shouts from the group that was quickly closing in.

 

The way Sora's illusion magic was perceived could vary for each different person. Relying on it to trick an entire group of high powered mortals that would be staring at him with suspicious was way too risky. Good thing Sora had many other tricks Yugo had yet to learn.

 

With a subtle snap of his fingers Sora appeared to have vanished from sight. But Yugo may have been too pre-occupied to notice what really had happened, having to also deal with the barrage of threats being shouted from the party of kids that had steadily closed in on him.

 

Yugo almost wanted to cry, his clumsiness had chosen the absolute worst possible time to act up; not that Yugo was usually grace on legs or anything, but he still prided himself on being decently dexterous.  But occasionally he would display a stunning lack of coordination that used to have Yuto baffled at how utterly he failed at remaining on his own two feet.

 

Yugo hastily drew himself up but it was already too late and the Securities were upon them; one of the elite groups in charge of maintaining the peace and order at the Academia. Privately, Yugo thought they were all stuck up, rule-obsessed dicks, who enjoyed lording their power over unsuspecting students and generally making asses of themselves.

 

"There you are, you little rat," the douchebag with the sunglasses sneered. "We were wondering what kind of filth would be brazen enough to use unsanctioned magic during class hours and knowing full well that this area is off limits!" Badge number 227 (Yugo never bothered to learn his name) advanced threateningly as his lackeys started to surround him.

 

Yugo, on the other hand, was looking frantically around for Sora. He briefly recalled how the little demon had been thrown out of his arms when he had tripped but he still should have been in sight. But maybe he was better off not here... Demon summoning was definitely a violation of the school rules.

 

The white mage in training turned his attention back to the Securities, affecting an irritated scowl. Yuto had come here all the time but these assholes never bothered _him_. But then again Yuto was one of the Hunters and messing with a Hunter was like winning an all-expenses paid trip to getting your ass kicked.

 

"I was just leaving anyway," Yugo growled, bristling like an angry cat and started to stalk off, only for a barrier to spring up in front of him, blocking his path off.

 

"Not so fast," asshole 227 sneered. "I think you could use some _disciplining_."

 

Yugo stared at the asshole in incredulity. Did this asshat really have to do this? Now?! When Yugo was exhausted and hungry and was almost deep fried with lightning and one short of a hungry demon familiar?

 

 

 

He was going to make him EAT those stupid sunglasses!

 

Sora sat back and watched the scene unfold with a morbid sense of excitement. His Master was very powerful; Sora himself had felt it firsthand. But so were these security bullies, and there were three of them! The little demon was hopefully he would get to see some bloodshed.

 

He had a front row seat for the show. Close enough to get splattered with any blood spilled, but still somehow he remained completely unnoticed. Had the group of thick-skulled teenagers not been so unobservant they would have clearly seen Sora sitting there in his shape-shifted form, right in plain sight.

 

With a magical barrier at Yugo's back, and three thugs circling in on him, it looked to Sora like the fun was about to begin. The largest of the boys drew a weapon from behind his back and took another step closer. In his grasp was a short metal staff, which on its own wasn't very intimidating. But even Sora's eyes widened the moment the rod made contact with the Security guard's gloved hand and a bright burst of sparks spilled out from the magically charged weapon.

 

 

And from the look on Yugo's face, it seemed he'd been on the wrong side of this kind of a weapon before. With a cocky grin one of the security members taunted, "Don't make this any harder than it has to---" but he abruptly paused. His grin turned to a perplexed frown as all eyes were drawn to the source of an unexpected sound.

 

"Mew~"

 

Another shrill meow had caught the boys off their guard and momentarily stalled the entire fight. Which was quite the feat for a domesticated beast that stood no more than a few inches off the forest floor. Confusion was plastered across every face as the tiny creature standing behind them let out another yelp. The strange little beast had a long coat that shimmered with the breeze and showed off the unnatural hue it had for a cat. Its fur was almost like lavender and it's eyes were wide and a familiar color of sparkling green. It even had a ribbon tied around its neck pulled into a cute bow. Clearly it was someone's pet. Which made the security flunkies next stunt all the more appalling.

 

One of the guards drew back on his staff and shouted "Get outta here ya pest!" And with no regard for the animal’s fragile life he took a swipe with the enchanted weapon. It struck the ground with a fiery flash of powerful electric sparks that threatened to roast the little creature alive. It made an ear piercing shriek having just narrowly avoided a messy execution. And without waiting for the asshole to take another swing, the cat bolted off into the forest like a purple blur.

 

"Too bad you won't get away that easily." huffed the smallest of the bunch as he turned back to Yugo, looking especially smug for being the kind of coward who'd try (and fail) to kill a defenseless animal.

 

Yugo looked absolutely disgusted at their utter disregard for the sanctity of life and felt his blood boil. His fingers twitched and sparked with a need to give these cowardly bullies a taste of their own medicine. He wondered how much they would like having their eyeballs electrocuted out of their eye sockets!

 

"Pick on someone your own size," he growled, bringing his fists up. He just couldn't understand why the Headmaster would allow these brutish bastards to run amok, terrifying the lower classes with their thinly veiled excuses of 'enforcing the rules'.  Perhaps he turned a blind eye to them under the assumption that the damage was insignificant.  

 

The Securities looked briefly incensed at his show of defiance but then smirks spread across their unattractive features when they noted how battered and exhausted Yugo already looked.

 

"Well. We were going to let you off easy," the tallest one sneered, making a show of raking his eyes down Yugo's thin body that was barely covered by his tattered clothing.  "But now, it looks like we're gonna do this the _hard_ way."

 

As if following an unspoken signal, the other two goons dashed forward with their identical weapons drawn, aiming the electrified rods at his face.

 

Yugo weaved under them and kicked out at theirs with a blast of wind element that toppled them over but they swiftly recovered by hand springing backwards. Yugo did the same to try to get some distance because those rods hurt like a _bitch_ , but the third one was already charging forward and he had to bring his arms up to block and his boots slammed into his forearms and sent him flying backwards into a tree.

 

The other two recovered and shot forward again. This time, they spun their batons and forked tongues of electricity shot out, carving an erratic path through the air. Yugo cursed loudly and rolled out of the way just in time to hear the sickening crack and smell the burning air as a thousand year oak tree splintered behind him. Yugo growled and poured his unstable energy into the ground and it rose up in waves of sharp spikes that narrowly missed impaling two slippery bastards, but scored an angry gash on the third's leg which hand him yelping and hitting the ground.

 

Furious at being pushed into a corner, Yugo's hand shot up to the limiter around his neck. His excess reserves had dwindled into almost nothing after three nights of attempted summoning and a voracious little succubus trying his best to snack on him and the suppressing collar was certainly NOT helping things!!

 

But the moment his hands touched the cold, metallic material, Yugo was suddenly bombarded with visions of towering flames and smoke and the sound of Yuto screaming in his ears and he froze.

 

That moment of hesitation cost him and then he realized that the three of them and managed to surround him in a triangular formation.

 

Asshole 227 grinned sadistically while the injured security scowled with murder in his beady eyes and then webs of electricity shot out from their pointed batons from all directions and Yugo had nowhere to run.

 

A tortured scream was wrangled out of his lips as the web burned angry red welts into his fragile skin and he _pushed_ , his magic furiously exploding from his core and ripping the foreign magic off of him, with the backlash slamming into his three attackers and sent them careening backwards.

 

Exhausted, Yugo fell to his knees, his ears ringing as his core worked to stabilize itself.  But to his dismay, the Securities were not as shaken as he had hoped; their enchanted armor seemed to have protected them from the worst of the backlash and they were slowly pulling themselves to their feet.

 

The type of mortal despicable enough to hurt a cute animal or target someone innocent; like Sora's dear sweet Master, was exactly the kind of mortal the little demon preyed on. It gave him an extra spark of satisfaction to know his victims deserved everything they got.

 

Sora loved putting mortals through these types of tests. Throughout time countless mortals had passed by that very same purple cat and heard its shrill cries. Those with soft hearts would coddle the kitten, feed it scraps, sometimes Sora even ended up getting taken into a warm home. Completely unknown to those mortals, their simple acts of compassion spared them from a horrible fate.

 

Anyone who would take a swing at a defenseless animal (especially one as cute as Sora's fluffy cat form) surely deserved every bit of suffering they got. He didn't have a single shred of mercy for those with heavy jaded hearts. They were ruthless and cruel people exactly like these security brutes.

 

They had failed their test. And having bared witness to the brutal, magically charged, beating they had just given his Master, Sora was about ready to tear their throats out.

 

Yugo was on his knees with the three of them looking down at him, weapons drawn, with smirks across each and every one of their faces.

 

From behind Yugo's back came a sound that melted the smug looks right off their stupid faces. In that moment Sora was certain they were all praying it was still just an annoying little cat making those growling sounds. But what stepped out of the shadows of the forest was no kitten. Sora had shifted into a completely different kind of beast. One that looked to have come straight out of an insane nightmare.

 

It let out a snarling roar that had the Security force trembling. With a fearful maw of jagged sharp teeth it's roar looked as intimidating as it sounded. The giant cat lumbering towards them was totally surreal. Its fur was an unnaturally radiant teal and its fur striped with black like a tiger. It had piercing green eyes and a set of massive fangs that hung below its jaw with a closed mouth.

 

The beast arched its back and readied itself to pounce. Making all the strange wounds across it's body noticeable. It looked almost like a patchwork doll. As if someone had cut the tiger to pieces for fun, just to sow it back together.

 

With another heart-stopping roar, Sora leapt right over top Yugo's head. Razor sharp claws fully extended and poised for Security scum's flesh. The pathetic boys were so tough when picking on a little kitty cat. Sora truly enjoyed seeing how quickly that changed when facing down a five-hundred pound tiger.

 

Yugo had braced himself, expecting to feel the stinging bite of the Securities' weapons. But the men only shrieked and fell back like terrified, squalling rabbits. Before confusion could set in, a frightening growl rang out from behind him and then a truly nightmarish creature was then sailing overhead, and then the bullies were screaming and cowering as it descended on them in a flurry of fangs and claws.

 

Far too dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events, Yugo just sat on his knees and watched in befuddlement as the Securities tried to hit the creature with every dirty tactic they had but the demonic tiger seemed to shrug off the electric attacks and retaliated with razor sharp claws.  But then one of Yugo's former attackers (the one of the bleeding leg) stumbled and fell and the demented creature shrieked its victory and leapt on him, sinking its massive teeth through his armor and into the soft flesh of his abdomen. The other two swiftly abandoned their comrade to his gruesome end, ignoring the third's garbled cries for mercy.

 

The sight of the blood bubbling out of the man's gaping wound finally spurred Yugo out of his inactivity and he pulled himself to his feet because if this kept up, this asshole would die and although Yugo had no qualms in sending him into intensive care for being an awful human being, he still hadn't wanted him dead.

 

Plus, it would look really, really bad if they found him out here with a mangled corpse, considering his personal history. Plus, those two cowards would definitely try to pin the blame on him and it would be their word against his.

 

Stifling a groan, Yugo lamented the fact that all he had wanted was to get some exercise and then a bath. What was he supposed to do with the demented hell beast?! He certainly never studied for this.

 

" **Let him go!** He called out and a globe of fire formed in his palm and he prepared to incinerate the beast but the flame wisped into smoke when it _actually did as Yugo commanded_.  With great reluctance, the beast unhooked its teeth from the whimpering man's middle and tilted its head almost insolently at the mage in a surprisingly human expression.

 

'Are you fucking serious?' The thing seemed to be asking him and Yugo ignored it in favor of cautiously approaching the wounded man.

 

"*Stay*," Yugo warned sternly, though he was inwardly freaking out at how he was treating a demented killer tiger like it was a puppy. But as Yugo made this way to the Security, the creature didn't do much more than sit on its haunches and growl lightly at him, flicking his tail irritatedly. There was something oddly familiar about it...

 

Yugo knelt down beside the man, and noted his pallor and the cold sweat dotting his brow.

 

"N-no...! S-stop...!" The man gasped as his eyes darted about wildly like a wounded animal.

 

"Shut the fuck up," Yugo scowled irritatedly and spread his palms over the wound. "I can't believe I'm wasting energy on an asshole like you." Yugo's hands glowed white and he flooded the man's gash with raw healing magic, not even bothering with a spell (mostly because he was no good at memorizing incantations). As a result, the effects were much rougher and the man shrieked in pain as his flesh and organs forcefully knitted back together.

 

The Security stared up at him in shock and wonder with a trace of what even looked like worship leaking into his beady eyes. "You... You healed me!" he exclaimed.

 

But Yugo only scowled harder as his blue eyes darkened at his abrupt change in attitude. Without warning, Yugo balled up his fists and punched him in the face hard enough to crack his visor and slam his head back into the ground hard enough to send him back into unconsciousness. "I said, shut up!" he told his limp body resentfully.

 

But now he had other things to deal with. Like finding Sora and dealing with a killer tiger.

 

Lucky for Yugo that would be a lot easier than he expected. His familiar was sitting there with fresh blood still dripping from the fangs in its mouth. Tail wagging impatiently. But from the look on Yugo's face he was just too oblivious to piece it all together.

 

Sora huffed in disgust at the missed opportunity for a well-deserved bloody death. Being bound by magical obedience all he could do was sit there and watch. His Master not only saved the security thugs life but wasted his precious magic healing him. It was little compensation to see Yugo punch his lights out. At least now they were alone, with the other two boys have long since left their companion, and poor Yugo; a student they were tasked with protecting, to die. From what they could only imagine was a horribly gruesome mauling.

 

Yugo stood up and his bright blue eyes met with Sora's. Usually making eye contact with a blood lusting beast would be a fatal mistake. The Tiger instinctively licked its blood stained lips and flashed its set of saw-like teeth.

 

Without warning the huge beast sprung forward and looked as if he was about to tear into Yugo next. He was brought crashing to the ground, pinned under the Tiger's weight. But the expected pain of having a massive cat crushing you was non-existent. Sora's Tiger form felt more like a giant stuffed animal then a ferocious beast. And that sentiment was sealed when Sora opened his jaw, and instead of ripping into his helpless Master's throat, he playfully licked his face.

 

Yugo blinked up at the massive creature in absolute befuddlement.  Did the killer tiger whose _jaws were still dripping with blood_ actually LICK HIM?!  At a complete loss of what to do Yugo found himself reaching up and cautiously patting the thing on its weird demented face and Yugo almost wondered if he had been knocked unconscious and was now stuck in a strange, absurd dream.  Its fur felt oddly soft to the touch and somehow the texture was almost familiar.

 

In fact, there were a lot of things that felt familiar about it.  It didn’t look like any creature Yugo had ever seen in his books but Yugo felt like he recognized it, recognized that playful (but slightly menacing) glint in its eyes.

 

But now wasn’t the time for that!  He needed to figure out where Sora went.  And maybe see if he could find that poor little cat… He tried to sit up but the tiger just put its paws on his chest to keep him in place.

 

“... Hey, come on.  Cut it out,” he said, shoving at its head a little when the creature refused to cease its relentless licking and Yugo couldn’t help but let a giggle escape his lips when its rough tongue started to caress a ticklish spot on his neck.

 

Yugo was pinned beneath Sora who had no intention of stopping. Not while his Master was looking so adorable. Sora ran his tongue straight up Yugo's bare chest that was bruised and still sweaty from battle. The Tiger's prickly tongue left Yugo tingling everywhere it touched.

 

When Yugo tried to squirm away Sora extended out his sharp claws just for a moment as his paws pulled the boy in closer. He continued to eagerly lick Yugo as if he were cleaning a fellow cat. His tongue wandered a bit too low for Yugo's comfort, tasting the leather from his teasingly tight pants.

 

Sora could barely resist the urge to sink his teeth into Yugo's exposed skin. That may be something he could get away with in his cute little demon form, but it would probably only take one good bite from a blood thirsty Tiger to break his poor mortal master.

 

So instead Sora clamped shut his mouth before he decided to get a mouthful of Yugo's flesh. And nuzzled his big fluffy cheeks against his master's chest like the over-sized kitten he was. It almost sounded as if the nightmarish beast was even purring.

 

Having very little idea of how close he had come to being mauled by a hungry demon, the naive little mage only shoved lightly at its muzzle as he tried to wiggle away.  “Seriously, stop…!” he said between breathless little giggles, making a face when his face and chest was covered by the monster’s drool which was starting to make him feel uncomfortably sticky.  Rather than a tiger-beast, it was almost like an over-enthusiastic puppy and Yugo felt his initial wariness drain away.

 

The beast just ignored him and continued to nuzzle and rub against him but Yugo really didn’t have time for this!  He needed to find Sora and get out of here before any more Security forces came.  Or worse, if those assholes ended up calling the Hunters… it would not end well for any of them.  Yugo tried to push the creature off one more time.

 

“C’mon, let me up, Sora!” he whined.  And then he stopped, looking wide-eyed and confused, staring intently into the tiger’s green eyes.  Why did he call this demonic creature Sora?!  

 

With a gleeful yelp the beast rolled off of Yugo and flopped onto the ground. He pawed demandingly at the other boy, pulling himself in to cuddle close. Sora pushed his fuzzy cat muzzle up against Yugo and lovingly snuggling into his neck right before shifting back into his normal form. His bright blue fur was replaced with a head of fluffy hair. His arms were wrapped around Yugo and Sora's soft warm skin was suddenly pressed tightly against Yugo's barely clothed body.

 

The succubus couldn't hold back and had to get one last taste. This time with a much softer and more pleasant little feeling then having a monstrous cat do it, Sora ran his tongue up Yugo's cheek and quickly pulled away before Yugo even had a chance to react.

 

"I'm sorry." Sora pleaded, but his giggling seemed to say otherwise. "I couldn't resist! You just taste so good~!" He swooned, staring up at Yugo with the very same bright green eyes that Yugo had seen in his Tiger form.

 

“ _Sora!_ ” Yugo yelped when the creature suddenly disappeared, leaving his wayward familiar in its place.  He was flooded with relief at seeing him whole and unharmed, so glad that Sora hadn’t tried to interfere and got hurt. Or worse still that the Securities would have seen through the true nature of their bond and what Sora was and gotten the Hunters involved.

 

Yugo wanted to throw his arms around the tiny demon’s body and hug him and reprimand him for scaring him (not unlike a protective mother). But what comes out of his mouth instead is a shocked accusation, “You  _licked me!_ ”

 

His mind is still reeling by how the creature was Sora all along and he finally realizes what he had noticed all along; there is a thin current of energy humming between their bodies, a bond, a channel of energy gently trickling from Yugo’s core over to Sora’s.  And now that he could feel it, he couldn’t believe how he had missed it before.  Then he chastised himself for having been so wrapped up in his own troubles that he had been completely ignoring it.  Through the bond, he could feel how inextricably linked they were, could feel their covenant singing in his blood, etched into his very bones.  

And it made Yugo just feel that much less alone.  

 

But of course, this also came with another whole slew of problems, like the fact that Sora was definitely dangerous and nearly mauled another student to death.  But Yugo was too tired to deal with that now so he wrapped his arms around him anyway and sighed into his neck.  

 

"Mmmmhm." Sora ran his finger across the slobbery streak mark that went straight down Yugo's chest, giggling unapologetically along the way.

 

He let out a soft moan when Yugo snuggled in close. They laid there for a moment, enjoying the comforting warmth of their soul-bound aura's being so close. Just how they were meant to be. Despite having had this day start off with signing an 'accidental' contract with a childish moron, it was looking to have a really good ending! Maybe their 'get to know each other' time in the forest was really going to end in Sora getting his Master's virginity?

 

Sora could only hope he was right about Yugo just being into weird foreplay.

 

"I'm glad they didn't hurt you--too badly." Sora said with a sneaky grin while his is hand wandered down Yugo's exposed curves at a teasingly slow pace.

 

Yugo jumped and squirmed away from the embrace, shooting Sora with an exasperated look.  He was sore and tired and slobbery now (the last part was entirely Sora's fault too) and how was he supposed to relax if Sora kept touching him in weird places?  His sides were extremely ticklish!

 

"Sora, stop," he whined, his face turning red involuntarily, brushing his skin off to get rid of the phantom tingles. "It tickles!"

 

And he still couldn't believe Sora had licked him all over; he felt like such a sticky mess, covered in sweat and dirt and now demonic tiger drool.  Yugo was in desperate need of another bath; he realized with a bit of trepidation that it might even have to be a cold one since he didn't know if he could trust himself with a heating spell at the moment. Anything requiring delicate precision was a little beyond him.

 

The sun looked like it was about to set, peeking lower and lower through the branches and casting long, gnarled shadows over their bodies.  Yugo didn't want to stick around for much longer because the forest came alive at night and he was so completely done with fighting for the day.

 

"Come on," he said, climbing to his feet and offering the little succubus a hand up. "Let's go home first and get cleaned up. Before we run into anymore assholes."

 

Sora eagerly grabbed hold of his hand and pulled himself to his feet. The little demon latched on to his master's arm. But he looked rather concerned as he mumbled, "Yeah but..." and glanced over to the Security guard's unconscious body. “What about him?"

 

"It wouldn't be fair if something else got to eat him..." Sora huffed, sounding far less concerned about the other boy's life and more annoyed that he wasn't the one endangering it.

 

Yugo tilted his head consideringly, letting out a pensive hum.  “I guess you’re right,” he mumbled.  “It would be a waste of energy to heal him if we leave him to die.”  With a put upon sigh, Yugo grabbed a nearby stick and started scratching symbols into the dirt around him, finishing off the circle with an irritated jab. Yugo carelessly tossed the stick over his shoulder and spun on his heel to leave when the circle started to glow softly.  

 

He gave the little succubus a conspiratory grin and reached out to ruffle his adorably fluffy head, somehow feeling more content than he had in _months_.

 


	6. In Which Yugo Takes Another Bath

 

By the time the boys had made it back to Yugo's dorm room, Sora had nearly forgotten about the mess that was waiting there for them. You could smell the stench of his hoard from the moment the door was cracked open. Sora recoiled over-dramatically and sighed with disgust, "Your home is worse than a filthy dragon hoard." And how could Yugo deny it when he had to forcefully shove the door (and all the crap piled behind it) just to get it to open all the way?

 

"Ewww..." He muttered after stepping on something squishy and wet that Sora couldn't identify. With that the Succubus decided to start flapping its tiny wings softly and hover above all the trash on the ground. Sora had no idea what other gross surprises were waiting and really didn't want to find out.

 

Sora didn't bother waiting for Yugo to even take off his boots before he started to nag, "Why does it smell so funny? Have you ever cleaned this place?" The judgmental little demon was glancing around the room, searching for the source of the stench. But there was junk everywhere! Overstuffed bookshelves climbed up the walls and spilled out onto the floor. Which was barely visible beneath the layer of clothing and discarded papers. Sora wondered how many times Yugo must have lost his homework in this mess, considering his desk was a total disaster.

 

But Yugo's bed was without a doubt the most disappointing part of Sora's new living situation. How could they have any fun with a pile of useless junk stacked on the bed!? "Where are we even going to sleep!?"

 

Yugo flushed deeply, wincing as he took in the room with new eyes.  Now that he really _looked_ at it… It really did look like a mess, didn’t it?  He was about to kick off his boots but another look at the floor made him decide not to, just because he didn’t know how to treat tetanus yet.  

 

He self-consciously tried to straighten up some of the mess by shuffling papers around on his deck but only succeeded in knocking over a pile of books, feeling the judging weight of his new familiar’s stare at his back. This made him finally realize just how long since he had the motivation to properly clean out his room; lately he had been too tired and stressed to do much about the accumulation of filth in his tiny room.  Always promising himself that he’d pick up something later, tossing his clothes on the floor because he hadn’t wanted to spend an extra couple of minutes to sort out his laundry basket.  It was little wonder Sora had been so unhappy with him.  And it had been another source of some of his and Yuto’s (neat, organized Yuto’s) more colorful spats.

 

“I...” Yugo vaguely mumbled something embarrassedly that was too muffled for Sora to even make out the first time.  When Sora shot him an unimpressed look, he repeated himself grudgingly. “There was an accident with a baby manticore.  I think I might have forgotten to throw it out. But uh… I can’t find it anymore.”

 

"How do you _lose_ something like that? Ugh!!" Sora's spat, feeling insulted by his Master's apparent apathy towards his disgusting room.  

 

Frustrated, he turned away and mumbled to himself, "Well it's not the grossest thing I've ever seen..." Sora sighed loud enough for Yugo to hear before continued to grumble, "...but I'm sure as hell not going to clean up his junk." Sora's wings carried him over to the bed that he was so unimpressed with. He stood on the cleanest corner of it, on a small mound of clothing. His vision slowly roamed across the room, with his eyes wide in horror, as he imagined where exactly a rotting manticore corpse could be hiding.

 

On second thought, Sora didn't want to find out. The demanding little demon crossed his arms in protest and huffed, "This place is disgusting. How do you expect me to live here? A gross Dragon may have felt at home in this hoard of yours, but I'm not happy!"

 

Yugo instinctively bristled a little like he wanted to argue... But realized he really couldn't.  He had always been a little messy but never to this extent.  Lately he had been too tired and spent to really care. Yuto had always scolded him and kept him in line whenever he felt his side of the room was starting to look too much like a disaster. With Yuto gone... Well, there really wasn't anyone else to remind him to shape up.

 

"It's not that bad," he protested halfheartedly, but the both of them knew that it really was. "I can get it clean in a couple of hours," Yugo claimed but his own voice sounded dubious even to himself. Begrudgingly, he stalked over to the bed and huffily started to yank books and clothing off of it even though he really had nowhere else to put them. His shelves were all completely full and his chairs were already overflowing with his stuff. Yugo spied a stack of books that were slightly less precarious-looking so he tossed them over to join the pile.

 

Well if Sora had the decency to be a dragon then maybe he wouldn't have a problem with his 'dragon horde'!

 

Yugo had to count to 10 to avoid blurting that out because it would probably ruin all the progress they had managed to get.

 

"Maybe I can get rid of some stuff...?"  Yugo suggested hesitantly. He had lived like this for so long that the smell no longer bothered him. Maybe Sora's nose was just over-sensitive?

 

As annoying it was for Sora to complain about the state of his room, (and he finally admitted to himself that his concerns were quite legitimate) Yugo couldn't help feel a little happy to have someone to nag at him again.

 

Even if it was a blood-sucking demon.

 

At first it was kind of funny watching Yugo scurry back and forth desperately trying to clear off the bed. But quickly Sora realized all he was doing was shuffling the mess from one pile to the next. Sora sank down and sat on the corner of the bed and sighed. It was actually kind of sad...

 

His poor, flustered, Master hadn't even tended to his own wounds yet. There were painful looking bruises scattered across his body from their run in in with Security. With similar burn marks spread up his arms from playing with Sora. Before Yugo had even taken off the rags he was still wearing, he'd stopped to clean (if you could even call it that) at Sora's demand.

 

"Listen..." he said, but what really caught Yugo's attention was when he reached out and touched him. Yugo paused, and their eyes met. All the while his soft fingers tracing lightly near the boy's wounds. "You should go clean yourself off first."

 

For a moment there it actually looked like the little demon was concerned for Yugo's well-being.... But Sora would deny he had any real care for his contract holders. Especially one this adorably dumb. So instead he smirked and added, "And if you ask nicely and promise to give me a treat I'll even help you clean up this mess." It sounded like he regretted the last few words as they left his mouth. The thought of clearing out all his trash was dreadful. But imagining the treat he'd get afterwards sure helped.

 

Yugo blinked at him in surprise before looking down at himself, finally remembering that he had been injured; the sting of his wounds has faded into a dull ache which had been easily ignored until now. He was also covered in dirt that was probably making his room even messier, not to mention how itchy his scabbing cuts were starting to get.  He felt heat rise into his face at the oversight and gave Sora a sheepish look. Yugo may have been covered in blood and dirt, but Sora didn't look so picture perfect either; he still had blood drying around his mouth that he hasn't bothered to wipe off!  

"I guess we can both use a bath," he mumbled a little self-consciously, sighing. He wasn't looking forward to trying to heat water element again. Sora probably wouldn't be happy if Yugo ended up boiling him alive. ....But weren't demons supposed to be hardier, anyway?

 

Well, there was no use standing around and pondering over it; Yugo believed in being proactive in all matters but in cleaning his room and doing homework like most boys his age (except Yuto but he was a bit of a freak).  Yugo sighed and shrugged off his ruined shirt and tossed it at his overflowing trashcan. There was no use tracking even more dirt into the bathroom if it meant he had to clean it up.  As an afterthought, he started to peel off his trousers but his sweat made the leather cling to his legs so getting them off was a bit tricky and he decided to leave them on for now, realizing with a blush that he had forgotten to put on any underwear.

 

To be perfectly honest with himself, Yugo really wasn't all that great at cleaning up either.  He could really use a hand, even if Sora was offering his help on a conditional basis. But by now he learned enough to be slightly wary of what Sora considered a treat, recalling how cheerfully he almost fired that Security guy to death. "What kind of treat?" he asked with a healthy dose of suspicion lacing his question.

 

It was so funny to him knowing that Yugo did not realize _he_ was the treat Sora wanted. His eyes slowly roamed up the other boy’s half-naked body. Feeling a bit disappointed those teasingly tight pants were the only piece of Yugo's clothing on and intact.

 

The young mage was dirty and still sticky with sweat. He was wounded and scared yet for some reason seemed to care more about taking a bath with Sora then healing himself. And that just seemed to make him all the more irresistibly tempting to the little Succubus.

 

"I want something sweet and delicious~!" Sora replied with a smirk. He leaned in close, pressing his hands up against Yugo's bare chest as he stared up at his Master and asked, "You do know what Demons eat, right? Surely you can't be that clueless." Sora giggled, but he already knew the answer. "...Well you did try to feed me a gross piece of pig meat..."

 

Well, that wasn't ominous in the slightest. Yugo knew little regarding the dietary habits of demons. Demonology was his least favorite subject.  What was the point if he could never become a demon hunter? Only a miniscule fraction of people ever had any sort of demon encounter and learning anything that didn't have anything to do with killing or subduing a demon was a waste of time in his book. This was an attitude shared by practically everyone at the academy. Demons were creatures of darkness and evil. They were there to learn how to kill demons, not how to care for one and keep them happy.

 

Yugo was beginning to regret slacking off on his studies a little.  

 

But what _did_ Sora actually eat, then? (Not ham, apparently.)  Demon feeding habits varied by species, he remembered one of his professors droning. Some ate animal meat; others preferred the taste of human flesh or blood.

 

Yugo _suspected_ it was blood, but he had been so eager to snack on that security guy, it made him paranoid that Sora WAS a flesh eater.  It made him feel a little unsettled and he didn't want to feel that way towards his own familiar. But could he just come out and ask him point blank about what he ate? Would it be considered offensive? Sora had been so angry when Yugo first summoned him without a clue of what he was getting into.  Maybe it was better to just nod along and go look it up later?

 

But with the way Sora was beaming up at him so sweetly with his tail swaying behind him, Yugo found it really difficult to reconcile this adorable creature with what he knew about other mindless, rampaging demons.  Yugo sighed inwardly.  He would still try to make this work; with his condition, he wasn't too concerned about needing to defend himself from Sora. He looked just like a cute little kid, how bad could he be?

 

Yugo made a noncommittal noise and patted him on the head again. "I'll get you something else after," he promised sheepishly, realizing that meant neither of them has anything to eat yet. The meeting with Yuto and their impromptu spar derailed his lunch plans.  "Lemme go heat up some water first."

 

He then extricated himself and headed towards the bathroom, only vaguely aware of the pout that flitted across the little demon's cherubic face.

 

Sora was left alone, in the middle of the mess he'd just agreed to clean. So he crossed his arms and huffed in frustration. Then the boy turned to the disgusting excuse for a bed with a scowl. A swipe of his hand send a torrent of magical energy whipping across the bed. Dragging every piece of junk off along with it. Sora really didn't care where it all ended up, as long as it was out of his way. Which is why most of it was sent flying across the room carelessly.

 

What was left behind was almost worst. Sora doubted Yugo had ever changed his sheets. And they didn't look very comfortable at all. After being buried under all those dirty clothes Sora was sure it wouldn't smell very good. He shook his head. The demon refused to live like this. Yugo should be ashamed considering he was literally from Hell and honestly thought the conditions there were nicer then this dirty dorm room.

 

Sora closed his eyes and imagined a perfect bed. With silky soft sheets that were so warm you could melt in them. A pile of fluffy pillows lining the head of the bed. And beautiful drapes that shrouded the whole thing with a really romantic atmosphere. That is exactly what Sora wanted. He snapped his finger and there were blindingly bright sparkles of magical energy crackling around the bed. As it faded the bedspread Sora had conjured up was relieved. It looked so much more comfortable then the dirty stale sheets Yugo had before.

 

But Sora stopped himself from diving in to the big fluffy bed and testing it out. Since his Master was right, he was filthy too. He really should go join Yugo in the bath. And hopefully this time he wouldn't get his head smashed against the wall...

 

Yugo almost slipped on the bathroom floor because he had forgotten that it was still covered in water from the morning's disastrous bath and the cracked wall glared at him accusingly.  Yugo sighed and halfheartedly placed his palm against the rock to see if he could channel elemental magic into the stone to smooth over the cracks (repairmen were not cheap!) but he was half expecting to splinter it even further.

 

To his surprise, the spiderweb cracks almost entirely disappeared, only leaving a few jagged scratches and he stared at his hand in wonder.  Trying again, he concentrated hard and aimed a combination blast of water and heat element at the tub and was even more shocked when it didn't immediately overflow and scald his fingers when he tentatively dipped them in. It was still a little too hot to be comfortable but Yugo was so shocked at how easily he had controlled his magic that he was nearly in tears.

 

Which must have presented an incredibly strange picture to his familiar trailing in behind him but he was too bewildered and happy to care.

 

Sora stood at the doorway, wondering why he was so worked up over warm water. He tilted his head and gazed at him curiously. For a while he watched in silence as his silly Master celebrated his victory over the bathtub.

 

But he just couldn't hold back a laugh so he asked, "...so am I invited this time?"

 

Yugo was in far too good a mood to let anything get him down, even if Sora's sudden laugh made him jump a little. Instead, he was wracking his brains, trying to figure out just what had happened to improve his control by such a margin in just one day.  What exactly did he do differently...?

 

Yugo could have smacked himself as he turned to his new familiar who was staring back at him curiously. The answer should have been obvious; he had Sora now! Their spar must have helped drain away his excess energy so he wasn't leaking a constant (and wasteful) flow that would interfere when he tried to cast.  This was everything he wanted ever since he prepared the familiar ritual.

 

So pleased and caught up in his discovery, the white mage laughed in utter delight and crossed the bathroom in two strides, pulling Sora up against his chest for an enthusiastic hug that lifted him clean off the ground.

 

"Sora, look!" he exclaimed, his blue eyes lighting up like a clear summer's sky. "I actually did it! And it's all thanks to you!!" But it was clear from the dazed look in his eyes that Sora really had no idea what he was thanking for and Yugo was too emotional to properly convey with words how happy and grateful he was.

 

Without really thinking, he cupped the sides of Sora's face and mashed their lips together in a rough, clumsy kiss, the way he had seen his Astromancy and Chronomancy professors do when they thought no one was looking and Yuto had hastily explained that that was what people did with people they liked.

 

And he definitely liked having Sora around now! (But he might eat people! A little voice in his head screeched but Yugo could worry about that later.  He almost executed a perfect combination spell!)

 

Sora had to admit Yugo looked exceptionally cute with such a sweet smile on his face. The little demon couldn't believe someone was smiling like that for him  without being magically manipulated to do so. That was probably why he looked so shocked. If someone was putting their lips on him it usually wasn't to kiss him softly. Which is why he was left with a blush burning across his cheeks.

 

Yugo was unlike anyone who had every summoned him before. Warlocks that call upon hellish demons usually aren't this cute. And at first, Sora thought that fact was going to lead to Yugo's death. A really quick and messy one, at that. Admittedly Sora had been fighting back the urge to rip out his heart when he called him an accident...

 

But the moment their lips touched, Sora was sure they both realized how good of an accident this turned out to be. "Wow..." Sora swooned, "...you're so talented." He said, thinking more about the warm fluttery feeling Yugo's kiss left behind then his actual magical abilities.

 

Of course Yugo thought Sora was referring to his new found control over his magic and he flushed in pleasure, unable to help his the swell of pride that made his chest puff up slightly.  At the same time, he was paradoxically embarrassed to be praised so sincerely and his exuberant grin turned a touch bashful.

 

But soon his excitement won over again and he tugged enthusiastically at Sora's hands.  He wanted Sora to have the first shot at the bath; after all, there was no way he could have accomplished this on his own.  One afternoon with Sora gave him more control than he managed in years, more than he had ever thought he would manage.  Maybe his dreams could actually be achievable with Sora at his side?

 

"C'mon," he urged impatiently, pulling the small demon towards the bath.  "You first!"

 

But Sora apparently wasn't moving fast enough for his liking when he ended up lifting him bodily and swinging him over to sit on the side of the tub and started to pull down his socks.

 

"H-Hey!" Yugo let out a startled little laugh and tried to bat away Sora's hands as he squirmed away. Something that sounded like a squeal erupted from his lips as it turned out that he was extremely ticklish and Sora's greedily little fingers made him giggle uncontrollably.

 

"Okay, okay; I got it," he placated with an exasperated eyeroll, completely misinterpreting Sora's eagerness to strip him as payback for pulling his socks off without any warning.  He probably hadn't liked Yugo treating him like a kid. "You can undress yourself."  And then he turned around to give Sora some privacy and started to undo the laces on his trousers.

 

He figured they might as well share the tub, Sora obviously had no qualms with it that morning.  He didn't know how long his sudden, miraculous control would last him and he'd hate it if he couldn't at least enjoy his first successful bath in forever. (Yuto used to take care of stuff like that. He was more like Yugo's mother than he cared to admit.)

 

Plus they were both boys. It wasn't like Sora had anything that he hadn't seen before.

 

With those optimistic thoughts, he peeled off those impossibly tight leathers and unceremoniously tossed them over at the side, where they fell just shy of the overflowing laundry basket and fell onto the wet floor with a sad little splash.

 

That left the young mage standing with his back to Sora, completely bare except for that bizarre collar, giving Sora a perfect view of his cute, plump butt and toned thighs.  Yugo was too busy taking stock of his injuries to notice Sora's lustful staring; somehow over the span of the day, he had gotten so used to the little demon's presence that he was able to completely tune it out.

 

Besides some bruises and scratches, and the electrical burns, Yugo figured he was in pretty good shape.

 

The mage had perfectly sculpted curves, like he was a real work of art. The kind of beautiful body that Sora would be happy to sit and stare at all day. His eyes were drawn to Yugo's irresistibly round ass. Biting down on his own lip barely helped quell the burning desire to pounce his incredibly hot Master. Even with dirt and battle scars along his body,the young boy still looked so delicious. All Sora wanted to do was sink his fangs into what he could only imagine would be the most tender kind of flesh.

 

Sora didn't waste any time slipping out of his shorts and hopping into the tub. His Master sure did a good job heating up the water. It was the perfect temperature. But Sora still didn't see why that was worth all the excitement.

 

He leaned out over the tub, not wanting to take his eyes off of Yugo for a moment for fear he'd miss the best part of the show. Sora's back arched with his eagerly wagging tail while he waited for his Master to join him.

 

Yugo grabbed a washcloth, dampening it with another precisely executed spell and started to run it along his skin, trying to get the worst of the dirt off, as well as try to clean his unattended wounds. For someone studying to be a white mage, he was awfully cavalier about his own injuries. It wouldn't do if he ruined his perfect bath before he got to enjoy it and he was obviously a lot dirtier than Sora. Were demons self-cleaning? It was like dirt just didn't stick to the little succubus, beside a couple smudges here and there. Not even fair!

 

Since he didn't want to bleed into the bathwater, Yugo ran his hands over his scratches, palms lit with mana as he coaxed his cuts and scratches to close, never once realizing that his succubus familiar found his acts of self-care so incredibly erotic (long, dexterous fingers running over smooth, white skin, tracing the curve of his hips  as and dipping down to seal the gash on his thigh, little winces when he prodded a particularly tender spot). The check up only lasted under a minute but Sora was pretty sure if he wasn't aroused before, he certainly was now!

 

But to his great disappointment, once he was finished, Yugo draped the washcloth over his hips as he turned around, hiding the parts that Sora really wanted to see.  But how could he be disappointed when the obliviously sexy mage was eagerly climbing in with him?!

 

Yugo let out a blissful moan when he sunk into the bathwater, the perfect warmth bleeding away the tension from his sore, battered body. His eyes fluttered shut as he stretched luxuriously and he almost had half a mind to fall asleep right then and there. He always had a bad habit of doing just that and Yuto always came in to check on him to make sure he didn't drown himself.

 

But he couldn't do that with Sora there with him; it would be kind of rude, not to mention how sucky it would be if Sora ate him in his sleep.  Yugo groped around for his new favorite shampoo (the kind that Yuto had liked) and squeezed a glob of the sweet-smelling liquid into his hands and worked it into a lather.

 

"C'mere, Sora," he beckoned for the little succubus to come closer until Yugo could pill him onto his lap, their bodies separated only by a thin scrap of cloth.  Then, he began to work the shampoo through his beautiful, cotton candy hair, gently massaging his roots. His hair really was like silk, Yugo thought sleepily. And his fingers hadn't snagged even once. It really wasn't fair.

 

Yugo gave the bow holding up Sora's ponytail a tug and it all unraveled in his hands. He tossed the ribbon aside and continued to run the shampoo through the little demon's surprisingly long hair. His fingers felt so good and the massage made Sora melt right into his chest. His eyes fluttered shut as he smiled to agree that this was an okay way to make up for Yugo being a total tease and hiding behind a tiny little towel.

 

Sora nearly whimpered as he laid there wondering just how much longer his Master was going to hold out on him for. It just wasn't fair to know that they were here together naked in a perfectly warmed tub and Yugo's hand's haven't even slipped below Sora's collarbone yet! Sora just imagined how much better it would feel if they did and Yugo's strong hands were rubbing something else as soft and lovingly as he was playing with his hair.

 

But that was all Sora could do, _imagine_. Because he was starting to realize that his new Master was too shy (or maybe just too incompetent!?) to give Sora what he wanted. It made Sora feel pity for both of them. All Sora wanted was to sink his teeth into him and suck him dry. Where as poor Yugo was too sweet and pure of a kid to even be summoning up forces of eternal darkness.  And he was way too oblivious to be separated from a sex demon by only one tiny towel, for it to be healthy.

 

He couldn't take it anymore. Sora had to pull away from Yugo's temptation before he ended up breaking his Master before he even got a chance to play with him. He dipped his head under the water to rinse out all the soapy suds left over. Long drenched lochs of bright blue hair clung to his neck as Sora leaned back against the other end of the tub. He looked over Yugo and let out a needy sigh as his eyes ran down the beautiful boys exposed body.

 

"Can I do you then?" He asked with a mischievous giggle, but Yugo would still think he was only talking about shampoo.

 

Yugo made an aborted attempt to grab a bottle of conditioner but ended up blinked in bewilderment when Sora suddenly pulled away from him. Even if he wasn’t the best (sucked) at keeping his place neat, he still made sure to at least take care of his own personal grooming.  Then he shrugged and set the bottle back. Sora probably didn’t need any conditioning anyway, not with hair that soft.  

 

“It’s fine,” he said hastily.  “I can take care of it.”  It wasn’t like he didn’t trust Sora… well, actually, he still didn’t quite trust him.  But it was a work in progress; he had only been here a day!  Sora was cute and cuddly and didn’t seem like a bad sort of demon but Yugo was still a little worried about turning his back on him, considering how he had just tried to eat him that morning.

 

The last person who had offered to help him wash his hair was Yuto (when he had been literally too sick to do it himself) and he wasn’t exactly the type who really cared about keeping his own hair in good condition, preferring utility over form. Yugo could cry at the sheer amount of split ends his former roommate had.

 

"It will be so much more fun if you let me help." Sora retorted, trying his best not to sound offended by yet another rejection from his thick-skulled Master.

 

Instead of waiting for an invitation he clearly was not going to get, Sora swam forward and forced his way back into Yugo's lap. He pressed his hands greedily against the boys freshly-healed chest. Sora was still able to feel the static-y aura of magic linger from Yugo's spells. By running his fingers down Yugo's bare chest Sora was able to absorb the little bit of energy that was left behind.

 

"Come on." The demon said softly as Yugo gazed down, seemingly irresistibly, into Sora's dimly glowing green eyes. " Just relax. " He hushed in a oddly warm familiar tone that bought Yugo into a weird daze. The further Yugo slipped into that foggy lull the further down Sora's hands seemed to slip down his chest.

 

Yugo's eyes glazed over just for a fraction of a second before he blinked and the illusion slipped away like it was water sliding off his skin. But rather than get upset and toss Sora across the room, he only swatted at him. "Hey, cut that out," he scolded. He probably should have been more upset that Sora was trying to use magic to get his way but it wasn't like it was actually effective or anything.  (Little did he know just how effective it was on everyone else. Yugo was just kind of a freak.)

 

Then he sighed, seeing the pout that was making its way across Sora's face and finally relented.  It was just a bit of hair-washing... The worst thing Sora could do was get soap in his eyes or something.  And Yugo didn't really feel like expending the effort of lifting his hands over his head.

 

"Alright," he said with a little eye roll and pressed the shampoo bottle into Sora's hands. It was probably easier to just go along with it. "You can help me wash my hair too."

 

Yugo thought he was giving Sora exactly what he wanted when he handed him the shampoo, but all Sora got was a feeling of disappointment. He sighed deeply in defeat, "Come here then." he said leaning back against the other edge of the tub to make room for Yugo.

 

Yugo was reluctant to move any closer to the little demon that was willing to so casually mess with his head. Well, one that tried to anyways...

 

Yugo couldn't help but still feel a little tense to have Sora behind him where he couldn't see him, the glint of tiny fangs flashing through his mind.  At least he could probably heal himself if Sora tried to eat him, he couldn't help but think with a sense of defeatism.  But he had decided to trust his familiar and he wasn't going to take that back without a good reason.  He carefully shifted over until his back was nearly touching Sora's knees and closed his eyes.

 

But when Sora's hands tangled in his hair and started to massage the shampoo into his scalp, his reservations basically vanished and he practically melted into him with a moan on his lips.  Sora's hands were just so talented, so soothing and the tension seeped out of Yugo's body, leaving it feeling like putty. "Mm... That feels so nice," he praised almost sleepily.

 

There was no denying there was something special about Sora's new master. Somehow Yugo seemed to be completely resistant to his demonic magic. More so than any mortal he'd met before. Maybe it was his thick skull that stopped Sora's spells from seeping through and controlling his mind. Whatever the problem was, it had Sora a little worried.

 

He squirted out a bit of the sweet smelling shampoo into the palm of his hand. Then gestured for his still hesitant Master to snuggle close enough to get his hands on him.

 

With surprising tenderness for a blood-sucking demon, Sora worked his fingers through each and every knot in his Master's untamed mess of hair. The gentle massage had Yugo relaxed and practically dozing off in Sora's arms. But the rhythm that had him lulled came only from Sora's absent-minded distraction. The little succubus was staring down with a gaze so intent it was surprising Yugo didn't feel it burn in the back of his head.

 

Sora wanted to enjoy bath time with his new Master, but Sora just couldn't ignore what had happened. No matter how cute and innocent Yugo seemed now, Sora worried that whatever resistance Yugo had to Sora's black magic would be nothing but big trouble for him in the future.

 

He hadn't even been able to do something as simple as clearly read the boy's mind. And that certainly wasn't for a lack of trying! Even now Sora tried to pry into the privacy of Yugo's deepest thoughts, but he could barely get a coherent word out of him. All he could see when he tried to read Yugo's mind was a loud static of energy. Like staring into a crackling magic bolt. And the sound he heard inside his own head was worse than nails raked down a chalkboard.

 

Sora tensed as he focused all the extra energy he'd siphoned off his Master into one last attempt. The demon was so intent on getting into Yugo's mind he didn't even notice his fingers tightening in their tangled grip Yugo's hair. He took a sharp inhale and swore to himself that if this didn't work he might just have to actually crack Yugo's head open before he was going on inside...

 

...But instead of seeing his Master's most intimate memories and deepest darkest thoughts, all Sora got was... a headache.

 

He sighed deeply in defeat. It seemed Yugo's thick skull had won this round. Sora submitted with a weak whimper before slumping down in the tub. His hands followed as they slipped listlessly from Yugo's soapy head of hair, down his bare back. Before his Master could complain; Sora began his massage again, with skilled fingers that sunk right into the tension across Yugo's stiff shoulders. Hopefully that was enough to distract him from Sora's attempted violation of his mind's privacy.

 

Yugo had been so far gone in his relaxation that he hadn’t even registered Sora’s desperate attempts to break into his mind. To the seemingly impenetrable barrier in the white mage’s mind, the succubus’s efforts were akin to a little insect smacking repeatedly into a window; ultimately fruitless and more than a little sad.  

 

(Perhaps the reason why Sora couldn’t read his thoughts was because there was nothing to read?)

 

Yugo tensed up a little when Sora tugged on his hair but then he did something with his fingers that made him moan almost indecently.  He felt so boneless and loose and the tension he didn’t even know he had been carrying around was flooding out of him, sinking into the soapy water and drifting away.  “Mm... Sora… You’re really good at this,” he murmured, sliding even deeper into the water with his eyes closed, fully trusting his familiar not to hurt him.

 

The bathwater was starting to get a little bit lukewarm and Yugo vaguely thought about rinsing off and getting out.  But Sora was really warm.  Actually, his skin was almost feverish to the touch, like he was a miniature furnace.  It was probably because he was a demon, but whatever it was, it made him very nice to lean against.  He probably should reciprocate or something.  Maybe when he wasn’t so tired.

 

Before he knew it, he was drifting off to sleep. But not before he had the presence of mind to mumble, “Sora, **drain the bath when you’re done,** okay **?** And **don’t try to eat me again or something weird like that** …”

 

No, it wasn't okay.

 

The frustration of trying to get through Yugo's dense skull still had Sora feeling flustered. His fluffly little head was aching from all that magic, and without the distraction of trying to read his Master's mind, all he could focus on was his beautiful body...

 

Yugo had melted right into the others chest, leaving the little succubus with the perfect view of his Master's exposed form.  The massage which had the other boy lost in a blissful state of relaxation was slowed to a stall as he stared down at Yugo's perfectly sculpted chest. Sora's lustful gaze followed a soapy droplet as it ran down from Yugo's collared neck and rolled along his bare curves until it hit the water's edge.

 

If it wasn't for the command Yugo was lucky enough to utter, Sora would have no doubt given into his urges. Instead he had to suffer with them.

 

This was not okay!

 

The hunger pains were worse than the headache. Yugo was passed out so deeply he was practically snoring. Sora could have easily sunk his teeth into him and had him subdued before he ever woke up. But sadly Sora could only sit there and imagine. As he'd been commanded not to do anything weird . Which unfortunately for Sora described almost every desire he had.

 

A destructively powerful sex-demon, defeated by a white mage in a bathtub. Nothing about this was okay!!

 

Sora threw his head back with a frustrated pout. This time slamming his own head into the tiles. Albeit much more gently than Yugo had earlier.  it certainly didn't help with the headache. He couldn't take a minute more of this. Sora groaned and shifted in the tub, shaking Yugo in the process. He yanked out the plug at the bottom of the tub, thus fulfilling Yugo's torturous command, giving Sora the liberty to once again be as weird as he wanted.

 

He placed little kisses up his groggy Master's shoulders. Sora skipped over the collar around his throat, and continuing to kiss Yugo's cheek until he rested at his ear. Warm wisps of breath brushed across his face as the succubus whispered seductively, "Come to bed with me."

 

Those words were followed by Sora's tongue tracing along the ridge of Yugo's ear. He tugged playfully at the tip of his ear. Yugo should be thankful that was the only thing he decided to do with his teeth. For now, anyways. "Come on, Master. Let's go."

 

Unfortunately, Sora’s ministrations were wasted on his new master.

 

Yugo’s brow crinkled slightly and he batted slightly at Sora’s hands in his sleep, feeling ticklish at his actions.  He settled down quickly, though and just ended up slumped over in Sora’s hold.  It didn’t look like he was about to get up and make _wild, passionate love_ to Sora anytime soon, much to the succubus’s deep, deep disappointment.

 

The white mage’s face looked so smooth and almost _angelic_ , in his sleep.  He looked somehow lighter, unburdened.  Innocent.

 

It was hard (insulting, really) to think this defenceless creature was powerful enough to brush off his spells like it was the water that was dripping down his naked body.

 

Succubus where known for having an indescribably irresistible aura around them. And usually Sora's presence alone was so seductively alluring that he could lull a mortal into submission without even trying... but all he seemed to do was just put Yugo to sleep!

 

Sora groaned a deep sigh as he just sat there in the slowly draining tub. He felt like all of hell was probably watching this and laughing at him. Here he had an incredibly beautiful boy, bare naked, and passed out in his arms. And instead of giving into temptation and tearing into all that exposed flesh, the little demon reached out and grabbed a towel to cover it up.

 

Could he even call himself a demon after not taking advantage of his this mortal and his misplaced trust?

 

He truly felt defeated, and it showed on his unimpressed-looking face as he struggled to aid Yugo out of the tub and dry him off. Sora ended up practically having to carry him into his room. The boy slept heavier than a sack of bricks! And that meant he wouldn't be appreciating the new bed Sora had  been so nice as to prepared for them.

 

With a snap of Sora's fingers, a robe of Yugo's appeared tied tightly around his damp body, replacing the towel. Then Sora gently laid him on the silky soft sheets. He sat on the corner of the bed and conjured himself up his own sleepwear. An obscenely short robe made of a delicate transparent material which left very little to the imagination was the most comfortable thing Sora could think to lay around in bed wear.

 

Yugo was already lost in a blissful slumber. He had this stupid little smile on his sleeping face that sparked a bit of envy in Sora. On the rare occasions the demon actually fell asleep he'd end up with nightmares worse than hell itself. But even with Yugo falling asleep in the arms of a blood-thirsty demon he still somehow managed to sleep soundly.

 

Sora laid down and rested his fluffy head of bright-blue hair on his Master's chest. Maybe if he snuggled close enough he'd get a share some the peaceful sleep Yugo was snoring through.

 


	7. Interlude I: Overture to Separation

"Welcome back-- Yugo?! What's wrong?" The tome that Yuto had been poring over was hastily abandoned in favor of rushing towards the door where Yugo was swaying on his feet, looking pale and wane. He made it just in time to catch his roommate before he toppled to the ground. To his alarm, the other boy's skin was cold and clammy, a far cry from how healthy and energetic he looked just that afternoon.

 

Shooting an agitated burst of energy to slam the door shut, Yuto hurriedly laid the boy out on the bed and bundled him up with as many blankets as he could find, and nearly set the fireplace aflame with an admittedly overpowered spell.

 

"Yugo, talk to me. What happened?" He demanded sternly, even as the overly-stubborn boy was already trying to resist his attempts to take care of him.

 

"'M f-fine, Yuto. S-Stop stressing," Yugo mumbled even though he was shivering. "It was just a routine check up..."

 

"A routine check up wouldn't make you look like this!" Yuto snarled. "What were they thinking?!"

 

"It's nothing," Yugo stressed. "I'm just not... Not used to the new limiter I guess."

 

"New limiter?" Yuto repeated skeptically, his eyes darting over to the new ugly metal collar wrapped around his friend's throat. "You never mentioned anything about this. You just got a new one three months ago!" His hands automatically flew up to it, ready to tear off the thing that was making the vibrant Yugo look so washed out and tired.

 

"No!" Yugo protested, grabbing his hand to stall him. "It's too dangerous right now! It'll just explode on you, you idiot!"

 

"You're suffering," Yuto growled, glaring heatedly. "And I'm supposed to do nothing?!"

 

"You're supposed to trust I know what I'm doing!" Yugo shot back. "I'm just... Getting used to it. It's supposed to be two times better at suppressing my magic. Then I won't have to worry about losing control again! They might start putting me on missions again!" Yugo stared up at him with pleading eyes, begging him to understand how important this was to him.

 

"That just leaves you with a fraction of your normal reserves!" Yuto retorted, looking entirely unswayed. "It's already making you sick. You could destroy your core like this! There are other ways of learning control."

 

"I'll be fine once I get used to it!" Yugo insisted. Then he averted his eyes and continued on in an uncharacteristically soft voice that made alarm bells ring in Yuto's head.  "They said... The healers said that I just have too much of it. Magic, I mean. My core's burning up since it can't handle the strain. It's why I've been so... Unstable lately."

 

Yuto's gray eyes grew wider with every word he spoke until he couldn't take it anymore and grabbed him by the shoulders, ignoring Yugo's indignant squawk. "What are you saying?!" he demanded.

 

"I'm... I _am_ sick," Yugo admitted quietly, his sky blue eyes dulling.  "They said my body can't handle it, not anymore. That's why they're thinking of pulling me out of Hunter classes and putting me in something less strenuous. This new limiter is supposed to help, though. It'll absorb some of the excess energy so I don't tax my core."

 

"Yugo..." Stunned and horrified, all Yuto could do was say his name helplessly. Drawing a deep, shuddering breath, he threw his arms around his friend and held him, pretending for Yugo's sake that he couldn't feel his trembling sobs and he wetness that was seeping into his shoulder. This didn't feel right at all, to see this bold, boisterous boy so quiet and downtrodden. This didn't sit right with him. Yugo always seemed worse off whenever he came back from his sessions, not better! And those sessions just kept getting more and more frequent.

 

How could he argue with the Headmaster's expertise? He was the one who took Yugo in after what had happened. But there was no way Yugo would...

 

"It's alright," he said, ignoring how his voice came out choked and how he couldn't see through the tears blurring his eyes. "We'll get through this together. You're going to be fine."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that marks the end of our first act. We're working really hard to bring you part two so in the meantime, comments and questions are greatly appreciated!!


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